MCFSC is teaming up with Lima Co 3/25 as a drop-off location for Toys for Tots.  A schedule for when we will be open to accept donations is yet to be worked out but members can bring donations to Packing Night on the 14th.  Please ask your family, friends and co-workers if they would like to donate a toy to bring joy to the children of central Ohio.  We hear that the economy isn't any better at the North Pole and the cost of heating all the workshops will be higher this year.  Plus the cost of reindeer food is up 15%

Quaker Steak and Lube Bike Night

Thanks to all that helped out at Bike Night at Quaker Steak and Lube on September 24^th.   We sure had a lot of Christmas cards signed.  Thanks to Julie Wills and her daughter who jumped right in and went around asking for donations we received $206.00 

Rich the Lube Guy was great and we will be asked back next year for an earlier date in the year.  

 Mary Howard - Candles

Thanks go out to Mary Howard and her sister who, through their efforts at selling/making Marine candles has given MCFSC $78.00 in donations!  If you are interested in ordering a candle, respond to this newsletter and we'll forward your inquiry to Mary!

Springfield Antique Show

Thanks to the efforts of Roger Bock, Jo Howard, Ellen Staric, and Carol Michel, the Springfield Antique Show netted $604.00 in donations and quite a few Christmas cards signed!  It was an interesting 3-day event that featured antique dealers, flea market vendors, farmers' market type vendors and it spanned almost the entire Clark County Fairgrounds!  If we do this next year, we are considering doing a traveling rummage sale or other type of theme in hopes of drawing more folks to our booth!

 Country Living Fair

Through the outstanding efforts of Susan Hency, also her friend Beckie and other volunteers we received $1283 in donations at the Country Living Fair and well over 1000 Christmas cards signed.  

 We had many veterans, parents, friends, etc stop by to talk, including a Gold Star Mom of Cpl Nathan Anderson who died Nov. 12, 2004 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Anderson was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.   Nathan was from Howard, Ohio

Additionally, Maxwell House donated over 800 packets of coffee and we received approximately 1000 sample size bottles of Eucerin, a fragrance free moisturizing lotion for our care packages. Hats off to all.

Rockin@Riverwatch

We did it again!  We raised $8,000 for one days' work.  Thanks go out to all who volunteered!

MCFSC TRI-STATE NEWS

Operation Santa; fund raising has begun.  Letters have been sent to Local Unions and Veterans Organizations.  So far $450.00 has been donated to this project.

 The on line Current fund raiser is still active.  Christmas will be here soon and our 2008 Christmas project is underway. You can help us reach our goal simply by ordering online from Current Fundraiser. It's easy to do, you can choose from lots of fun and practical products, and 50% of your total purchase goes directly to our fundraising group!

Just follow these easy steps:

Log on to the Internet at:

     http://www.currentfun.com

Shop to your heart's content. You can choose from loads of reasonably priced cards, gift wrap, gifts, candy and treats, even popular magazine subscriptions. Look for special fundraiser Internet offers, too.

When you check out, select:

     State: Ohio
     Organization: Marine Corps Family Support Community Tri-State Chapter
     City: Ironton
     Participant #: 1234  

Submit your secure order (using your credit card for payment). Your purchase will be shipped directly to you.

Enjoy your top-quality Current products, while you help Marine Corps Family Support Community Tri-State Chapter, meet our fundraising goal! All proceeds go to Christmas packages for our deployed troops.

Thanks for helping!

Mary Jo Vermilyea

President MCFSC Tri-State Chapter

We met on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 at the Wayne County Red Cross building.  President Brenda called the meeting to order & updates of our Marines were given.  The picnic was held at Brenda & Jeff's house, we had a good time & lots of good food.  Hope to see more of you next year!  Sgt. Shaffer has returned from Recruiter's school & also has become a daddy.  He will be back in the office around the first of October.  Staff Sgt. Barry has approximately 6 months left at the Wooster office before returning to the fleet at CLJ.  The fair went well, could have used some more volunteers to help out.  We are checking into paying for a booth space where there is more activity.  We are hoping that Shaffer will be willing to join us there!  We gave away to $50 gas cards & took orders for our stepping stones.  Orders were received for 19 stones ( 1-Air Force, 2- Navy, 2- Support Our Troops, 3- Army, 11- Marines).  We received a "Thank You" card from the Swartz family for the gas card to help out with travel expenses for boot camp graduation.  Winter Wonderland will be Nov. 21st, so we will need to decide on a theme for the window at Sam & Stan's, along with help setting the window up on the evening of Nov. 20th.  We have all the decorations from last year's window.  Do we want to do the same window or something different?  If you are interested in working on this committee contact us ASAP.  Our next meeting will be Oct. 18th. Sure would like to see all of you there!

If you have NOT turned in a picture of your Marine to the group, please do so.  We are updating our picture board!  A boot camp picture or an updated one would be great.  Make sure you put their name on the back of it.  Thanks!!!

Kim Hershberger
Stay safe Cpl. Seth & Cpl. Eric -  USMC
Remember our troops & their families!
Till they all come home!

Check out this great website if your Marine is in need of uniforms:  military uniform exchange

http://www.militaryuniformexchange.com/exchange/viewlist.asp?cid=10008&sid=50067&page=1

The Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Affairs Ambulatory Care Center is scheduled to open its doors November 12, 2008. The 295,000 square-foot medical facility is located at 420 N. James Road, Columbus, Ohio, and will feature the following key improvements:

New services in the new Ambulatory Care Center (ACC)

For More Information Contact: 

Al Burzynski
VA Public Affairs Officer
(o) 614-257-5455
(c) 614-537-5440

  Care Package Operations

Greetings...

The Board of MCFSC and I want to bring you up-to-date on some changes to our Care Packages and the challenges we face.  We are coming off an incredibly successful Rummage Sale.  This was our first so we had no idea what to expect.  Through the overwhelming response from the members and the community we were able to fill over 2,500 square feet with items.  Without a great deal of advertising we were able to raise $5,200 which could not have come at a better time as our bank account was shrinking very fast.

While $5,200 sounds like a lot of money, and it is--it is only about 1/3 of what we need to continue sending Care Packages for one year.  The largest expense by far is postage.  Over the past 8 months our monthly cost for postage has been over $900 a month.  Additionally, there is the cost for packing tape, the postage meter and postage tapes.

In the past we have been blessed with both the funds and item donations that permitted us to send two boxes each month, one after packing night and the second one two weeks later.  Based on the current funds we have and very limited donations of items for the boxes, we have decided to only send one box a month.  We will be sending the larger flat rate boxes that were recently made available.  The post office provides a $2.00 discount on postage for these boxes when sent to an FPO or APO address.  There is no discount on the boxes we had been sending. The change to one box a month, a bit larger, will cut our postage costs by 45%.

The other challenge we are facing is the significant drop-off in items donated.   For the past several years we have been fortunate to not have to buy but a very few items each month.  For the past four months, we have been buying many more items, such as beef jerky and the tuna packs which they like so well.  These are the most costly items.  The drop in item donations may be a result of the nation's focus on other issues such as the price of gas, the upcoming elections and the overall economy.  The primary source of item donations in the past has been our schools.

Another fund raising event and other opportunities for MCFSC to solicit financial donations are coming up in the near future.  Our most important event, "Rockin@RiverWatchu201D; will occur on September 6th.  As mentioned in the Newsletter we have the opportunity to earn $4,000 as compensation for providing the volunteers to staff the event.  Additionally we can ask for donations.  Last year we received about $3,500 in donations at the last game.  If you haven't volunteered to help out yet please do so.  We need to provide 70 volunteers.

We are working on several other opportunities where we can set up our display and ask for donations.  Details will be announced when they are firmed up.  Remember, we also need funds beyond those for Care Packages.  MCFSC helps families attend Parris Island Graduations that they otherwise could not attend, and supports our wounded recovering at Balboa Naval Hospital.  We also try to meet special needs such as providing for siblings to attend summer camp with other military siblings.

So, what can you do to help?  I would ask that you contact the schools in your area, particularly the one your children attend or attended, and ask if they would sponsor a donation drive as a service project or to receive community service hours to support our servicemen and women.  Also your employer might be willing to have a donation drive or allow you to put out a box for items.   If you are or have been active in scouting programs, ask them to perform a donation drive.  The most needed items are beef jerky, tuna packs, chapstick type items, and individual drink mixes.  A full list of the items we need is located on the web site.

Other things you can do to help is to ask at the grocery stores, drug stores, etc. where you shop.   The store manager likely has the authority to donate gift cards that can be used to purchase items we need at that store.  Even a $25 gift card can be a big help.

Our men and women deserve America's support.  I think you will find it if you just ask.

Anything I or the Board can do please let us know.

Roger Bock, President

Jude Cruse, Vice President

Pat L - Secretary

Carol Michel - Treasurer

Rick Isaac, Director Care Package Operations

Jo Howard, Lora Wells, Membership Coordinators

Charlie Carter, Care Package Operations