Kids take action.

Take the Time to Say "Thanks"

Every day you are helped by many people--bus drivers, teachers, cafeteria workers--and they appreciate your thanks for what they do. But there is one group of people you may not think about thanking in our military men and women who serve all over the world.

Why is saying "thanks" important? Every day you have the freedom to go to school, to learn many things, to express your opinions, and to make choices. In many countries, you could not do these things. The men and women in the services work very hard to protect these freedoms, and it's your privilege and your responsibility to thank them for all they do.

Join "America Supports You"

It is so important to thank the troops that the U.S. Department of Defense created a program called America Supports You, which shows what kids and adults are doing to support people in the military. At its website, www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil, you can learn about their activities and get ideas so that you can make a difference, too.

How kids can take action

When someone thanks you for doing something nice, it makes you feel good. Think about the ideas in this newsletter and how you can make someone in the military feel good. It is a noble job to serve our country. Thank you for remembering the men and women who serve in America's military!

E-mail from the Troops

"Getting letters from children means so much to the troops. I read a letter from o 3rd grader who wrote about how his teacher asked the class to describe t2heir favorite heroes. Most of his classmates wrote about cartoon characters and movie stars, but he said he chose 'the troops' as his heroes. When I read that I broke down and cried."

--Specialist/U.S. Army, Mike Pecka

"Thanks for all the heart-warming messages. Keep them coming. They really help to boost morale."

--Sergeant Rafael J. Diaz

What Kids Are Doing

From One Troop to Another

After every Girl Scout cookie season, thousands of boxes of unsold cookies are donated to charity. Last year, Girl Scout Service Unit 80-5, from Woodbridge, Virginia, donated their 2,280 boxes of leftover cookies to American service members stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Since April 2004, Robbie and Brittany Bergquist of Norwell, Massachusetts, have raised enough money to send more than $100,000 worth of pre-paid phone cards to troops in Iraq so troops could call home. "We heard about soldier who had a huge cell phone bill calling home from the Middle East," said Brittany. "We had a cousin in Iraq at the time and we though: What if our cousin couldn't afford to call home? What would our family do?" Cell Phones for Soldiers became so large that Robbie and Brittany enlisted the help of their parents and sister, Courtney.

What Troops Like to Receive:

* pre-paid phone cards

* disposable cameras

* books and magazines

* beef jerky

* sunblock

* coffee

* candy

* lip balm

* trail mix

* nuts More of What Kids Are Doing

Thanks, A million!

In 2004, 16-year-old Shauna Fleming, of Orange, California, founded the "A Million Thanks" program (www.amillianthanks.org), which collected one million "thank you" letters and handmade cards for America's troops--in just five months! This gear, Shauna decided to collect 2.6 million letters, one for each troop serving in America's Armed Forces. "I wanted to do something to let our troops know just how much we appreciate them. So I went to mg high school principal, the faculty and all the students, and I said, Td like to send one million letters, one to each person serving around the world.' That was 2.6 million letters ago, and we're still counting."

Packing with Care

Sisters Angel Ramsey and Jessica Raymond, of Allport, Pennsylvania, pose with care packages they made for one of America Supports You's newest team members, TroopCarePackage.com Jessica is working with Troop Care Package for her senior project by raising money to fill and ship care packages for troops overseas.

Music for Their Ears

More than 550 students at Sweetwater School in Phoenix, Arizora. presented a program called Every Heroes, A Celebration of Patriotism Principal Barbara Lake videotaped the…