To ALCON

Just to let all of you folks know. I have now completed the shipping of "Shoes for Kids" in Afghanistan.

An Army Helicopter Crew Member contacted me via e-mail and explained that when they fly into all these Afghanistan villages, the kids come running and yelling - waving their arms, all excited. The soldiers pass out candy, but the boys take away any to the girls because they have that "right" in Afghanistan. All of the girls are barefooted because girls don't get any shoes like some of the boys do. So he asked us to collect kids shoes (mostly girls) and send to him, and they would fly them in to the villages and see they go to the little kids. Our soldiers quickly learned to unwrap the candy before giving it to a little girl so she could just pop it into her mouth before a nearby boy could grab it.

So, I went to the Grandma's and Grandpa's here in our condo Hacienda's and collected grandchildren's shoes and money for shipping.
I ended up shipping 12 large boxes with 170 pairs of kids shoes. Mostly girls shoes. It cost almost $1.50 per pair postage to ship them. Collecting, packing and shipping those 12 boxes has worn me out, but Borghild and I both have a super warm feeling about doing it.

So, now we are working on a project of School supplies for children in Iraq. Our military has fixed up, re-built and constructed 1800 school houses in Iraq. Ones that Saddam used for military supplies, ammunition and equipment.
Now they are schools again, and for the first time the kids will be able to go to school starting this fall. But, they have no supplies. Once again, an Army Specialist working in Civil Affairs contacted me via e-mail and asked for help in getting school supplies to the Iraqi children. So, again, we have gone to the Grandma's and Grandpa's and asked for pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, chalk, colors, paper, tablets, etc. for the kids. We have already shipped one 36 pound box, and have much more to pack. Once again, it is work, but the kind we feel good doing, so we do it. The School supplies is a quick job for right now, cause in about a month they will begin school over in Iraq. You see, all us old retired folks are also able to contribute to help in our world. Best wishes to all. Borghild and Bob

Of course, if any of you would want to send off a litle box of school supplies to those Iraqi chlldren, just let me know and I will immediately e-mail you the address.