Young girls raising funds for our troops with boots on the ground!

On November 22nd the Pleasanton Military Families (PMF) had their annual Christmas pack out for American military troops deployed all over the world. PMF is a local support group for family members with deployed troops; severely wounded veterans, and they also give back to the community in many additional areas.

PMF sends “gift” boxes to deployed family members, and also obtains a list of others deployed for these pack outs. For this pack out the boxes contained Christmas decorations, a Christmas tree, toiletries, t-shirts, socks, goodies, etc which are sent to our troops in far away lands in hopes of bringing a feeling of home to their Christmas holiday. The gifts also let them know we as a nation are grateful for their service to our country. Donations for the pack out come from local vendors, general population and PMF members. Generally, a deployed service member receives 5-6 boxes and shares the contents with all the other troop members in their location. The cost of sending all these boxes is gladly undertaken by PMF and through

donations to PMF.

Something extra special happened on this Nov 22nd pack out! When we were finishing up a group of nine year old girls approached a PMF member and gave her an envelope containing two hundred dollars they had raised and were donating the funds to the cost of sending the gift boxes to our troops! Absolutely fantastic! The group of young girls call themselves “The Five Little Soldiers”, and they’ve been working since summer on various events to support our troops. They share a common belief with those of PMF; “We believe our soldiers are brave and they put their lives in danger to ensure we are safe at our homes in America, they leave their family and friends, go to far away places fighting against enemies to our country and also help other countries.” Wow! Here is a list of other accomplishments of this group of young girls:

· Collected over 100 inspirational and comforting letters for the soldiers on duty to encourage them and let them know they have their support

· Donated 500 items in the East Bay Stand Down event for homeless veterans

· Set up a henna tattoo booth at the Fairland’s Elementary school fall festival and raised $150

· Stocked 25 pounds of Halloween candy and sold it and raised $50

· Participated in the Pleasanton Veterans Day parade as part of the Young American Patriots (YAPS) Fife and Drum Corp teaching them music from the 1700’s.

What an exceptional group of young girls! The Five Little Soldiers are amazing! In meeting and speaking with them the energy level of these young girls for giving back to our country was heartwarming and awe-inspiring. In addition, it was wonderful to see parents teaching their children the importance of the sacrifices others have made to keep our country free and safe.

Respectfully,

Jacqui Crist PMF