MarineMoms-Bethesda.org is not connected to or endorsed by the USMC or the DoD.
ALL funds raised support our mission of
serving the wounded combat vets and their families from ALL branches of the military at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
We are not an IRS
recognized 501(c)3 - yet.
Copyright 2007-2009 MarineMoms-Bethesda.org ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Thank You for Supporting
Those Who Have Bravely Defended Our Freedoms.
Freedom is not free!
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Updates about our
"Baskets of Love"
Quilt Raffle
Last updated:
8/19/09
Order form for tickets is here.
Pictures of the front and back of the quilt is here.
"Baskets of Love" homepage is here.
June 1, 2009
The "Baskets of Love" quilt raffle entries are coming in!
A few notes that have come in -
The MCL Choptank
guys say if they win to keep the quilt and raffle it off again. Problem is, Chris is all ready to make another one for us!
Someone
told me that if she wins it, she will donate it to another organization to raffle off to raise care package postage funds.
Judy
says if she wins she will give it to someone at Bethesda.
And a Blue Star Mothers Chapter says,
"Dear Marine
Moms,
Thank you so much for all that you do to support our wounded and injured combat Vets at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the
out-patients barrack; as well as their families. God Bless you.
Many thanks to all of you for your support.
June 13, 2009
It's a tradition for quilters to include a label on their quilts with the name of the quilt maker and who the quilt
was made for. After looking at many different designs and labels, Chris decided to go with this one. The quilt is a true heirloom.
Every once in awhile there is a note for the Luncheon Crew along with the raffle check . "Wish I could send
more." "Thank you for doing this." "Wish I could be there to help you out!" "Give them all a hug from me!" I love reading
them and appreciate that someone has taken the time to add a note.
There were two extra special notes over the past two
weeks.
Jan, Army Mom X 2, included a card to take to the hospital with us that had an insert. The insert is a
Patriotic business card-sized card and a special "thank you" printed on it with a star attached to it. She and her friends make them.
They include them in care packages and also give them to all the Vets they run into.
"Jan, this is awesome!!! Can
I buy some to include in the notes we give to the guys at the hospital?"
"We don't sell them. I'll send you some."
The other
day a big fat manilla envelope arrived stuffed full of them. There are enough for the next couple of luncheons with more on the
way. They're "keepers" and will fit in a wallet.
Then this morning I opened an envelope from a lady in Alabama. She said in her
note that she has "a dear cousin, a Marine from 1940 -- in all wars til Viet Nam. I want to honor him always, and his fellow
Marines."
She understands the "Brotherhood" the Marines have, and she knows their sacrifice...
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If you
are interested, our June Luncheon is now onlne
June 20, 2009
It only takes ONE ticket to win! Some examples of how the money is spent:
A $2.00 ticket will buy one of those
BIG chocolately-chocolate candy bars that we include in the gift bags for the hospital ward.
$5.00 (3 tickets) will buy a tray
of 12 mouth-watering, buttery croissants that we use to make sandwiches.
$10.00 (6 tickets) will cover the cost of a three-pack
of disposable cameras, (one camera per gift bag) OR a 12 pack of Tropicana assorted fruit juice.
$20.00 (12 tickets) will cover
the cost of the cheese/olive/pepperoni tray that we always include on the luncheon table OR the cost of a gift bag stuffed with pantry
items of grab and go snacks and other items for the patients and families on the hospital ward.
Luncheon costs run from
$175.00 for a luncheon with some donated food, no stocking up on paper products, and donated or already bought gift bag items to a
little over $400.00 if we have to stock up on paper products, buy gift bag items, and we aren’t able to cook anything ourselves, and
of course it all depends on the head count, which varies luncheon to luncheon.
Gas money, phone calls, printing, paper, postage
and sometimes food and gift bag items are out of our own pockets. All funds raised go toward the luncheons, gift bag, and pantry
items for the wounded combat Vets and their families.
Please consider helping us brighten someone’s day by buying a raffle ticket.
Checks or money orders may be made out to “Marine Moms Bethesda” and mailed to:
Marine Moms Bethesda – Quilt
P.O. Box 22
Cordova, MD 21625
Thank
you!
July 5, 2009
I hope everyone had a great Fourth!
Time to kick in with the raffle! Only three weeks left! There is a little
over $400.00 in ticket sales and another $300.00 pledged. I will be at Bayside Quilters' Sew-In on Wednesday to sell tickets and talk
to them about Marine Moms-Bethesda.
I know... there's no PayPal button here. PayPal does not allow raffle payments unless
the merchant can prove to them that they can block all payments from states and counties that do not allow gambling.
Bummer,
huh? It's so easy to click on a button, fill a form out online and hit send, isn't it? A little inconvenient to write a check,
address an envelope, find a stamp and mail it.
It's also hard to go into surgery wondering if you will wake up from it with
one leg or two missing, and you hope you can still ride a horse if they are amputated..
It's hard to lay in bed with tubes coming
out of every orifice of your body with one tube straight into your heart pumping anitbiotics into it. You're thankful
you are alive and miss your buddies still over there, and would go back in a heartbeat if you could.
Hard to have to tell yourself
it's time to leave the Corps on a medical discharge, not because you want to, you love the Corps, but because you know that sitting
behind a desk isn't you and you would rather be out doing your EOD job that you did for four years but you can't anymore
because your ankle is held together now with pins and rods. You're thankful for your wife and three kids who have stayed with
you during the past three and a half years of recovery, and you will be moving back home with them for good once you
recover from this last surgery.
It's also hard to get a phone call, drop what you were doing and leave everything behind
- your business, your other children, the bills you were going to pay this weekend, the grass that needs mowing, the laundry that's
piled up, the meeting you were going chair tomorrow, and head to Bethesda without a suitcase, only the clothes on your back, to
be with your son, daughter or spouse. Thank goodness the Liaison's office has immediate needs items for you when you arrive.
Then
once you arrive you stay by his bedside 24/7 for 2 months, have a cot put in his room, don't leave his side other than a few
minutes at a tme -- until some nice people show up one day with lunch. You decide to walk down, fill a plate, and bring it back to
the room. Instead you sit down with them and eat, telling them about your Corpsman and how he was on his third deployment. He volunteered
to go. He told you after you arrived at Bethesda that he would do it again, had no regrets. When you leave after 2 hours, a nurse
comes into the luncheon room and thanks the nice people for providing a distraction from the hospital routine for the mom.
These
are all true stories... these are who Marine Moms-Bethesda serves.
They have sacrificed so much serving our country... It takes
so little to show our appreciation and thanks to them, to let them know they are not forgotten.
July 18, 2009
Less than $400.00 to go to meet our goal! Thank you, THANK you to everyone who has participated so far!!!!!
This is the first time we have done a raffle and I wasn't sure how well it would go over. How did I come up with the goal of
$1,200.00? Well, two ways --
The first way was, I looked at what was in the checkbook and how many more luncheons we will be
doing this year. The $1,200.00 will get us through the rest of the year and possibly into the New Year if we continue to be frugal
with our money.
The second way was, I asked Chris what the quilt cost to make. She said she had $100.00 in the fabric,
batting and thread. Having the quilt machine-quilted by a longarmer (someone with a special quilting machine) cost her $300.00 because
it was custom done, as you can tell by looking at the picture to the right. Marie even quilted flowers in each of the baskets, and
used red, white, and blue thread.
So, I took $400.00 and mulitplied it by 3 because that is how crafters figure out what
to charge for their work when they sell it. When I asked how many hours she had in the quilt, Chris said, "Hours and hours..." The
pictures do not do the quilt justice. It is truly an heirloom.
We had a luncheon on 5 East last Sunday. The cost was $298.23.
As we were loading up the cars to come home, Gladys said, "Well, it seemed like everyone enjoyed having us there." The Sergeant helping
us load the cars, who had not said more than a few words the whole time we were there, smiled and said, "I know I did!"
So... yeah... it's a good thing what we do... And we couldn't do it without you. One of the things I like so much about Marine
Moms-Bethesda is this: We have local support, and we have nationwide support as well. Whenever I give a Marine or a Soldier or a Sailor
a handshake or a hug, it is for all of you, too! 'Cause if you are a Military Mom I know how you are... he is your son, too!
Thank you all for your continued support!
July 30, 2009
The drawing for the quilt will be August 13th when we do our next luncheon.
There are still some Elfs with
tickets out there who haven't turned their money in yet and I am still selling tickets locally so I know we will make the
goal of $1,200.00!
MANY THANKS to everyone who has supported the wounded combat Veterans and their families at the National Naval
Medical Center through the
"Baskets of Love" quilt raffle!
Many, many thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets. By doing so, you have supported the patients and the families at Bethesda.
Many, many thanks to those of you who helped spread the word about the raffle.
Many, many thanks to Bayside Quilters
and Chris for donating the quilt.
We had a luncheon yesterday at Mercy Hall and a Marine very kindly drew the winning
ticket for us. I'll have a few pictures up once the new luncheon page goes online.
Thank you all so much!