Greetings Fellow FOOLS!!!

The holiday season is a time for giving and a time for being with loved ones. Brothers, Sisters, Husbands, Wives, Fathers, Mothers, Sons, and Daughters. We may have to work on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but we still have a job that allows us to have friends and families over to the firehouse, or Brother and Sister Firefighters that will cover our seat for a few hours while we go make that special “Santa” run.

That is one of the many things that make this job the best in the world. Another thing that makes it so good is the level of support that we give to people we don’t even know. Especially FOOLS. This is by far one of the most community based organizations out there. FOOLS take the commitment of the fire service and step it up a few notches.

Whether we are sitting in our recliners at work, or picking up that ever so friendly “Frequent Flyer” that likes to spit on us, there are thousands of brave men and women in our Military fighting for our freedom to work for the best job on Earth. Many of these men and women haven’t seen there families in several months if not years.

As you may, or may not, remember, the FOOLS International has pledged support to Liz Jackson and her Hero 2 Hero campaign. H2H is a Washington based not for profit group that facilitates the sending of local fire department T-shirts to local military folks over seas. Along with the shirts, H2H also sends coffee for the men and women to have a little taste of home.

Liz has asked for our help and now I am reaching out to you. Please read the below email from Liz,

Hey Eric,

Long time no chat.  Hope all is well with you and yours.

Karen Leming let me know about your recent email to her, regarding Hero To Hero.

To be honest we REALLY could use some support from the FOOLS and it should be very easy for you guys to make a huge difference for us.

We have a lot of support, but a lot of guys seem to think that someone else from their dept has already filled out the form, so they don't.  It's okay if one guy, or every guy from a department signs up.  We'll make the hookup in order of receipt.

The two things we need are Pledges and funds.  We no longer take the shirts from you, you will now have one to one contact with the deployed hometown troop that requests your shirt.  Using your zip code & local high schools on the form we are able to make a more personal connection and thus increase the opportunity for you to have contact (& perhaps meet your troop) via the shirt off your back.

The Pledge form is exactly as shown below, it takes only a minute or two to fill out and you are in ... No having to do it every year ... just once.  If your info changes you might want to let us know.

 I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy * 

I'm asking that every FOOLS chapter fill out the Pledge so that we can get the map filled enough to open adoption requests.  Heck, set up someone's laptop at your meetings and everyone can take a turn filing out the Pledge form during the meeting.

As for funds.  We ship coffee and other small morale items over to the desert on a regular basis, it costs us to do that.  We do all we can to cover it, but there are those occasions that have seen me digging into our home account to cover the program - luckily, I am married to a very supportive guy.  We are not asking for a huge amount, but it would be so nice not to have to postpone shipments sometimes.  There are so many of you, and only us.  Just like one shirt can make a difference, a few dollars for the program can do the same.  If it helps, remember that we are a Washington State based 501c3 nonprofit.

My idea, maybe do a pass the helmet at an upcoming meeting - or a couple times a year.  For us to send about $100 worth of coffee to the troops it costs us $12.  I'm sitting on about 600 pounds of coffee, and requests right now, totaling 1237 troops.  We'll make it happen.  But we sure could use some help.

For the record, if I can choose only one of these things to happen, it would be the Pledge form - without it we're sunk.

Eric, we need some help!

Thanks for looking in on us, glad to know you guys are still here for us.

( ;

Lj

Liz Jackson

HeroToHero.US Troop Morale Campaign

Director/Founder

5700 100th Ave SW #224

Lakewood, WA 98499

PH: 253.279.9817

Website: http://www.herotohero.us/

Facebook/Twitter?  Follow us @HerotoHero

Photo Gallery:  http://herotohero.smugmug.com/

uTube? Check our videos, username "Lizerini"

“The mission of the Hero To Hero Troop Morale Campaign is to be a conduit between Heroes, past & present, be they Firefighter, Law Enforcement, or Military. 

We support their missions, their morale, and the loved ones most impacted by their sacrifices."

Have you Pledged for your Hometown Troops yet?  http://www.herotohero.us/PLEDGE.html

"Troops Don't Choose Their Battles Any More Than Firefighters or Police"        

                                                                             - HeroToHero.US

As you can see it is very easy to sign up and pledge to Hero 2 Hero. The FOOLS International pledged its support because we believe that Liz is doing great work on behalf of the Fire and Law Enforcement communities. Our Troops deserve this from us, so please take a minute at your next Chapter Meeting or Event to pass this email around and encourage everyone to sign up.

Please go to her site. www.herotohero.US

Another fantastic organization that the FOOLS International supports is St. Baldrick’s. St. Baldrick’s is a charity that supports Children’s Cancer Research. The head shaving events usually take place around St. Patty’s day and are a HUGE fundraiser every year.

Many FOOLS Chapters already participate in at least one event each year. Some hold multiple events throughout the year.

As I mentioned before, the FOOLS have always been there to support great causes and we always will. St. Baldrick’s is another great cause to support. If you are planning on participating in an event, thank you. If you are not, the International would like to encourage all of you to consider doing so.

Please take the time to visit the St. B’s website at www.stbaldricks.org

If you are, or are going to participate, please put the word “FOOLS” in parenthesis in your name so St. Baldrick’s can track FOOLS participation. Also, like last year, please keep track of your chapter’s totals so we as an organization can track our individual chapter’s participation.

Thank you for all that you do as Firemen, and as FOOLS. The International E-Board is proud of everything our chapters are doing for the fire service and their local communities.

May you and you families have a wonderful holiday season.

Be safe and Have fun…

Eric Hankins

Vice President

FOOLS International

vicepresident@foolsinternational.com

(530) 682-5393