Verizon Pioneers

As many of you are aware, Stamp Out Hunger, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual food drive, will take place on Saturday, May 12.  On this day, all Americans are encouraged to leave nonperishable food items for donation by their mail delivery location.   The donated food is picked up by the letter carriers, and brought to their local food bank for distribution to individuals and families in need.  Last year, 77 million pounds of food were donated across the nation.

As a result of our outstanding success with last Fall’s Dish It Up food drive, Feeding America and the National Association of Letter Carriers have asked the Pioneers to help with this year’s drive.  Each year, after the  donation day, local food banks need lots of volunteer assistance to sort donated food and make it available for distribution.

I would like to ask that you to consider participating in this project by helping to sort food at your local food bank.   

Attached is a list of participating food banks (PDF or Excel).  If you are interested in getting involved, please contact your local food bank volunteer coordinator directly.  Every single county is served by the collective efforts of each of these food banks. That may mean they come into a particular market only twice per week but each county is served. So in cases where geography means the food bank is too far away to volunteer, the food bank will provide your members with information about the closest food pantry

Thank you for your willingness to be involved in this powerful project.  

Click here to share with us your involvement in “Stamp Out Hunger” by providing the # of food items you donated or the # of hours your volunteered at your local food bank.

Late breaking news, Deb Foley has been elected as the 2013 VFFT VP. In a fairly close race Deb was voted in as the 2013 VFFT VP over Jackie Gunn. Deb’s two year term starts on January 1, 2013. The present VP, Steve Kohn, will mentor and transition the VP responsibilities to Deb between now and the end of the year.

The Telephone Museum in Commack, NY recently hosted Pack 403, Den 4 of East Northport, NY. Mr. John Stallone a New Jersey Verizon manager and dedicated museum volunteer gave the Cubs the tour. The Cubs learned about early telephone history and Mr. Stallone introduced the Cubs to the inter-active displays. The Cubs can use this knowledge to earn their communications badge. They also got to meet Mr. Alexander Graham Bell and Mr. Watson.

 Operation Shoebox is a nonprofit organization that helps to provide support to United States service members currently serving their country overseas. A soldier is matched up with a civilian who wants to donate needed items; the civilian then compiles a shoebox or package to send to the soldier. The Kinnard Chapter started sending shoeboxes to soldiers in 2007. To date they have sent 2,060, in fact, with the magnificent help of the Belco Credit Union offices collecting items for Operation Shoebox last August, a huge supply of items was received to help us pack and send shoeboxes for Christmas delivery. One member of Belco was so inspired to help remember our troops that she personally raised money and purchased about $365.00 worth of needed items. She also collected some money to pay for postage. She and her niece started a project in a middle school called “pennies for postage”. Everyone wants to help let our soldiers know that they are not forgotten. The Kinnard Chapter has received hundreds of thank you letters from the soldiers. If you would like to learn how to participate in this project, please contact Carol Ruth, Project Manager, Operation Shoebox by calling the Chapter office at 717-777-5618 or send an email to: info@verizonkinnardpioneers.org.

Keller Chapter – collects can tabs

Collecting pop tabs is a great way to teach kids about philanthropy and the importance of recycling, and raise funds to help children and their families at the same time. The Keller Chapter helps raise thousands of dollars with their pop tab collections. Ronald McDonald Houses collect pop tabs instead of entire aluminum cans because it’s more hygienic to store tabs than cans, and collection and storage is easier. The program is an easy way for people of all ages to support RMHC and know they are making a difference for families and children.

Thank you to Verizon West for Laptop and Software donation

Department of Veterans Affairs Homes Division/Ventura Home 10900 Telephone Rd., Ventura, ca. 93004 April 2, 2012 Mary Wellington, President Verizon West Pioneers Re: Donation of Toshiba Laptop w/Office Home & Student 2010 Software Disk ($461.98 Value) The Veterans Home of California – Ventura would like to sincerely thank you for your generous donation of a Toshiba Laptop w/Office Home & Student 2010 Software Disk. We appreciate your commitment and dedication to our local Veterans and know our residents and our Veterans Home will benefit greatly from your donation. We will use this money to purchase equipment and supplies for the Therapeutic Activity Department. I have enclosed a copy of our current activity calendar so that you can see the variety of programs that we offer for our residents. It is thanks to support and generosity of community groups like the DAR that we are able to offer such a variety of programs. The California Department of Veterans Affairs’ mission is to promote and deliver the benefits provided by the grateful State of California to its Veterans and their families – with a vision for California Veterans to live the highest quality of life with dignity and honor. It is the Department’s goal to provide the best long-term care and enhanced quality of life for all California Veterans Home residents. These Homes provide California’s Veterans with a living environment that protects their dignity and contributes to their feeling of self-reliance and self-worth. The Homes’ amenities are intended to provide residents excellent care in a homelike environment and foster a sense of community. Thank you for your contribution to the Department’s mission as well as helping to improve the quality of life for our deserving Veterans. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at 805 659-7540. Again, thank you for your donation to our Veterans Home. Sincerely, Brenda Manke Administrator Pictured from left to right: Brenda Manke – Administrator of home, Mary Wellington, Verizon West Chapter President, Tom Creeley – stock clerk and IT person, in wheel chair – Willis Adir, veteran of WWII.   Thank You to Kinnard Chapter for Operation Shoeboxes —–Original Message—– Subject: Thanks for your Box (UNCLASSIFIED) Dear Kinnard Chapter, Words cannot begin to describe our appreciation for you adopting our unit. Thank you very much for your recent thoughtful gift box. I can’t tell you the impact that it has had on my entire Target Operations Cell here in Kabul, Afghanistan. Navy and Air Force personnel are having a hard time believing that someone would actually take the time to send someone a package that they have never met (and probably never will meet). If you thought the Navy and Air Force personnel were shocked, let me tell you about the British, Australian, and Canadian folks. They are flabbergasted at the outpouring of support shown by you and others like you. We cannot thank you enough for brightening our day during this grinding fight we are in here in Afghanistan. It’s tough to stay motivated especially for the ones here for an entire year like myself. It seems like Groundhog Day for 365 days in a row. But then, every once in a while, a package or letter is delivered and everyone’s spirits and morale seem to rise and it makes the shop a little more tolerable as the monotony is dispersed even if just for a little while. Believe me – ANYTHING from America is appreciated. Being thousands of miles off the continent of the greatest nation on Earth, we take nothing for granted. To take time to write you this letter is the least we can do. You took time out of your busy schedule to think of me and my battle buddies in this austere environment. That is more than most would do. I hug and salute you!! We appreciate all that Operation Shoebox/Verizon Telecom Pioneers is doing for service men and women. I plan to keep the www.AnySoldier.com website up to date with current updates and photos of our time here in Afghanistan. Please browse on by to follow our story. I served in Afghanistan for a year in 2005-06 and was a volunteer for Any Soldier then as well. There is a link on my profile there that tells the story of my last unit with lots of photos and updates. We’ll add your city to our United States map (for details about this, please see my profile on Any Soldier.com). I am a proud American Soldier serving with other young men and women from all the US military services and 43 other nations belonging to the ISAF Joint Command. We are a small Target Operations Cell but anything we cannot use, we distribute to the other 1,300 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines plus Coalition Nation Soldiers throughout this command. Thank you for your continued kindness and may you be truly blessed for your thoughtfulness and compassion for those fighting here in Afghanistan and around the world. We salute you!! Please know that you are making a difference in the lives of men and women in uniform. Never underestimate the power of your contribution has to the war effort. We will never forget it!! Sincerely, Daniel J. Ward and the entire Target Operations Cell