President's Message
May 2007
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Click Here For Archived October 2006 Message

Greetings from across the AUSA Chapter! As you can tell by the cover article of this newsletter we are going to focus the entire edition to how the Chapter supports soldiers, either deployed or locally. I hope that as you browse the photos and articles you get a firm appreciation of how diverse and varied that support has been during the past year. Our focus is broad, and we have all marched forward with the basic tenet that if you wear a uniform, we will try to support you, and that is evidenced by how we reached out to the Marine Reserve unit in Red Bank. Over the course of the past year, we have provided a varied assortment of donations to several deployed units, many that will be discussed in the cover article of the newsletter. None of that happens without the donation of time and resources from the Chapter members and our volunteers. Leading the coordination of our Soldier Support activities is Kathy Reidy. We mention her name in lots of things, but the one thing that she is most proud of is the way she takes care of the soldiers. The board is privileged to read the many thank you’s and updates from the units who received the largess of our Chapter, and this newsletter will provide you with some of that. Enjoy what you see, and be proud that we have Chapter members such as Kathy who make it all happen.

Volunteers are what make things happen, and that runs the gamut of time and donations. One of the events that brought this to mind on all fronts was a recent exercise performed by Stephanie Dazio and Amanda Roselli of Communications High School, Wall, NJ. Stephanie, the daughter of Mike Dazio, a Chapter member, approached us about doing a service project and collecting donated items from the High School. Shipping costs, for a High School student can be over the top, so the Chapter agreed to take care of all shipping costs, and the project began in earnest. Stephanie, Amanda and other student volunteers collected and packaged over 40 boxes of items to be shipped to two of our sponsored units in Iraq. Mailing day came and several more volunteers, parents, teachers, Kathy and CSM Chapman, the Garrison CSM, arrived and the convoy to the Post Office began. An hour later, and over $500 in shipping, every thing was on its way. The units in Iraq received it all and were most appreciative of our efforts. This type of event puts it all together, volunteer time, Chapter resources and deployed soldiers.

We continually receive various requests from corporations and individuals inquiring how they can help our soldiers overseas. I can point to two women who work in my own office. Jayne Casey and Kelly Clary had some items they wanted to send to some soldiers but didn’t know how to get it there, or where to send it. The Chapter provides the address of a unit we sponsor, the assistance to get it mailed (fiscal and physical) and the boxes are on the way. If you, or someone from your organization/company/neighborhood, wants to support our soldiers, contact one of the Chapter officers and we can make it happen.

I have mentioned the word “volunteer” several times and none of this happens without our members who give time to make sure our soldier support continues. We recently adopted the 67th Signal Battalion deployed in Iraq as a new unit to support and I have just seen a notice of the first seven boxes of items were shipped to them. That unit is over 700 strong and deployed in several locations so we have our hands full there, but the volunteers will come through, as they always do. Just remember, you can do the same thing as our Chapter Soldier Support experts do, just call one of us and ask for some information. We are always ready to accept donations as well, and that can be in the form of items, dollars or assistance.

As our Chapter operating year comes to an end, we will conclude with the Fisher House Fund Raiser on 9 June, which will epitomize why our community is so strong and there are parts of this newsletter dedicated to that so enjoy what you see.

I must also say thanks and good luck to one of our Chapter Officers who is giving up the position of VP for Membership. Ray Derosa will be moving on, and he has done a superb job keeping our 935 members enrolled, current and informed. Thanks Ray, for all of your efforts.

Thanks again to all, for your continued support of our Chapter and the people of our Armed Forces. But remember, that support can only continue if you help somehow, and that help can also consist of a note to our elected officials to not abandon our uniformed personnel so please keep that in mind as well.