You Can Be a Hero for Wounded Heroes

Just weeks before our son, Noah, was wounded in 2005, our much-loved friend Chuck Ziegenfuss was also wounded. From bad things, good things sometimes come. In this case, it is Project VALOUR-IT (Voice-Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops). This is the only fund raiser I participate in all year.

From Chuck Z:

In 2005, I was wounded. For some months, I was unable to use my hands. They were simply too badly damaged from the blast, and the surgeries to make them usable again left me unable to do anything for myself. 

Then came Soldiers Angels, who gave me a laptop, and paired it with special software that allowed me to control the computer, using only my voice! Imagine, being able to do anything you can do with a mouse and keyboard, using just your voice. For me, it allowed me to do one thing that I could do before I was wounded.

That one thing when everything --feeding, cleaning, scratching, everything -- had to be done for me... that one thing I could do for myself that allowed me to connect to my soldiers, friends, and family. That one thing... that one thing began a long road to recovery. It gave me hope that I could learn to do other things like I did before.

That one thing is only possible if people like you care enough to help. We have provided thousands of these systems since 2005, but the needs for these systems is still increasing. I visit military medical facilities and meet with wounded troops, and know that there are ways to help them... and right now, I have to tell them to wait because we need funding.

Should our wounded have to wait for something that can help them heal, take their mind off their pain, or bring them a little sense of self?

Please help us raise $100,000 between July 1-14 to keep us in the business of providing for our wounded. It seems like a lot of money, but every single dollar helps. Every dollar donated goes to the troops. None of the VALOUR-IT donation goes to administrative or other costs. You'd be hard pressed to find any charity that does that, but it was a stipulation I made when we set it up. That number seems huge, insurmountable. But you know how you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. Give what you can, please. I know times are tough. Times were pretty tough for me, too, and are pretty tough for young men and women learning how to use prosthesis, getting skin grafts, having wounds washed out...

Donate if you can, please share the message with others. Get your friends to give what they can. Write about it on Facebook and twitter. Call in to a radio or TV show. Spread the word. Spread the love. Spread the hope.

Thank you.

This year DH and I are supporting Team Navy (it's just a friendly inter-service competition -- but ALL money goes to ALL wounded regardless of service branch!!)

For you with smart apps, here's the QR -- just scan and go!!

Please give what you can. EVERY dollar helps.  (and if you just can't bring yourself to give via TEAM NAVY, there are links to Teams Army, Marine Corps, Air Force on the page as well.

PS If you are still just THINKING about a donation, consider this: you just read this on a computer, using your hands... imagine how isolated you might be if you couldn’t.

Feel free to copy & paste this message to friends, families, co-workers... share the links... share the images. Good to go!