Thursday, August 18, 2005

Exceptional Young Volunteers

Let me tell you about some of our young volunteers that Operation Kid Comfort is privileged to have on board.

Haven (age 12) and Avia Kinard (age 10) (Lyric’s darling daughters) donated the proceeds of a Fourth of July concert to Operation Kid Comfort. They took it upon themselves to plan and hold the neighborhood concert with Haven on the violin and Avia on the flute and raised SEVENTY-FIVE dollars to help us provide free quilts and pillows to children of deployed service men and women.

Haven writes:
"I had plenty of fun performing and I am glad to know it was for such a g
ood cause. I feel really sorry for all the children who's parents are at war and it's good to know that someone is helping and taking care of them. I know if my parents went to war I would nearly die of worry. Knowing that I am helping children like that makes me feel great."

You can view photos of the concert at: http://www.lyrickinard.com/silly_family.html

Emily Newton, age 12, has made three Operation Kid Comfort quilts and a pillow cover this summer, and all for the same family! How great is that! Check out this picture of Emily with two recipients of her wonderful quilts!

Katie Newton (below) wanted to do a volunteer project over the summer. Filling a bag with our patriotic fabric scraps, she took them home and created a 40” square quilted wall hanging for an Operation Kid Comfort raffle as a fundraiser. Isn’t it beautiful! This is her first quilt other than Opertion Kid Comfort quilts!

If you would like to purchase raffle tickets for the quilt, at $1.00 each, please send a check payable to Armed Services YMCA ( noting the Operation Kid Comfort Raffle) to:

Operation Kid Comfort
Armed Services YMCA of Fort Bragg/Pope AFB
208 Thorncliff Drive
Fayetteville, NC 28303

Please let us know if you wish us to return the ticket stubs to you (a self addressed, stamped envelope would be very helpful), or if we can email you the ticket numbers. The drawing will be on Make A Difference Day, October 22, 2005. You need not be present; we will contact you if you win.

And of course…if you would like to help Katie sell tickets…please let us know, we’ll be happy to send you a packet! You can contact us at: 910/436-0500 or operationkidcomfort@gmail.com.

Please join me in tremendous praise for these young patriotic volunteers. They are amazing young people who deserve a lot of credit for their unselfish efforts.

All together now… a round of applause for Haven, Avia, Katie, Emily and all our fantastic volunteers…or as we are fond of shouting here at Fort Bragg….Hooah!

And volunteers...please write in and tell us why you like to volunteer at Operation Kid Comfort? I'm sure you have some valuable advice and heartwarming tales of your OpKid workshop experience. We'd love to hear from you.

If you haven't volunteered yet...come on by any Wednesday or Thursday from nine to two, and we'll show you how we make our quilts.

See you soon,
Ann Flaherty

ASYMCA Volunteer and Proud Military Mom

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Welcome to OPERATION KID COMFORT. Almost two years old, we have served more than 850 children of deployed service men and women from Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

More than 45 volunteers create photo-transfer quilts and pillows for America's littlest heroes. Contributions, grants, and donated mater
ials and services allow us to provide Operation Kid Comfort tools free of charge. This is our way of saying "Thank you" to all of America's military.

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!

Ann Flaherty
Operation Kid Comfort Founder, ASYMCA Volunteer and Proud Military Mom
There's no better way to support America's military, than to care for their families while they are away.