San Diegans interested in heeding President Bush's call to help U.S. troops and their loved ones can do everything from sending e-mails to writing checks to volunteering their talents.
"The time of war is a time of sacrifice, especially for our military families," Bush said Tuesday during his visit to Camp Pendleton. "I urge every American to find some way to thank our military and to help out the military family down the street."
|
S.D.-area groups helping U.S. troops
The following are some service organizations aiding troops and their loved ones:
Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA
Box 555028, Bldg. 16144
Camp Pendleton, CA 92055-5028
(760) 385-4921
San Diego USO
303 A St., Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 235-6503
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
825 College Blvd., Suite 102, PMB 609
Oceanside, CA 92057
San Diego Naval Medical Center
34800 Bob Wilson Drive
Fisher House, Bldg. 46
San Diego, CA 92134-5000
(619) 532-9055
Send an e-mail greeting via Operation Dear Abby at: http://anyservicemember.navy.mil.
The Defense Department provides a list of support organizations at www.defendamerica.mil/ support_troops.html.
|
|
Military support groups welcome his message, particularly because it comes during the holiday season. They list a variety of ways and places where people can show appreciation for the armed forces.
The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund – based in Oceanside – along with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation are all worthy causes, they said.
So is United Service Organizations, or USO, the friend of all military personnel doing duty away from home.
Regan Wright, president of the USO in San Diego, said his centers at the airport and downtown areas help about 125,000 service personnel and their families each year.
Donations have picked up recently, he said, but so has the need for contributions and volunteers.
"We have some corporate donors we didn't have before. We also see an increase in people who want to donate things," Wright said. "I got a call from a man who wants to give us 100,000 cookies, and we'll probably end up taking them."
But the No. 1 need is financial donations. More money would allow the local USO to extend more services to Camp Pendleton, Wright said.
"We exist just by the generosity of the people in San Diego," he said.
While the Defense Department appreciates the public backing U.S. troops, it urges well-wishers not to flood the military mail system with letters, cards and gifts to service members. The reasons: security concerns and transportation constraints.
The military mail system also can't accept items addressed to "Any Service Member," and people shouldn't try to skirt the rule by sending numerous packages to one address.
Deployed troops can receive gifts and cards through the mail as long as the packages don't contain alcohol, explosives or material deemed offensive or illegal.
In north San Diego County, the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA assists Marines and their families at the base. More than 28,000 Marines from Pendleton have deployed to Iraq since January 2003.
"All the money that is donated will stay here on the base and is only spent on active-duty military and their family," said George Brown, executive director at the Pendleton YMCA. "The holidays are kind of like Black Friday is for department stores. It is when we get our financial batteries charged."
Donations of money and other gifts are always appreciated, he said, but the YMCA also seeks volunteers willing to share their time and skills.
Another option is contributing to The Fisher House, which has locations throughout the United States and Germany, including one near San Diego Naval Medical Center in Balboa Park.
Family members of patients in major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers can live in these homes. The families of four wounded Marines are currently staying at the San Diego Fisher House.
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
