Newsletter

Good Morning!!!
Another beautiful weekend in Lawrence County!!! Go out and enjoy the day!

--Many thanks to the people who showed up last Monday evening to help pack boxes! We sent 32 boxes filled with peanuts, sunflower seeds and other goodies to our young men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

--HELP!Kitty care plans fell apartA military mother here in Bedford has temporary care of her daughter's cat while her daughter and son-in-law (USAF) are stationed in Australia. The cat had a home while they were gone, but now the kitty can no longer stay there. The military mom can't keep the kitty because her apartment does not allow pets.It is only 6 months until the family returns home from Australia. They will pay for food, litter, vet visits, etc. The kitty is a total housecat. The kitty has also just recently visited the vet and is in good health.Can someone give this kitty a good home for 6 months? Another one of the sacrifices of military life - not being able to take your pets with you overseas. Let's help this military family out!Let me know and I will put you in touch with the military mom, Sally Allen.

Betsy

--Our weekly walk this week is scheduled for Monday at 7 pm at Greenhill Cemetery. I hope you plan to join us this week! It's a great opportunity to visit and get to know other military family members (and get a little exercise, too)!

--ATTENTION!!We have been invited to participate in the Oolitic Festival Parade on September 12th. As of today, I have had 3 people say they would like to walk in the parade. If you would like to walk in the parade, decorate and drive your truck, or fix up a float, please let us know soon. We need to let the parade organizers know ASAP, so that they can finalize their plans.

--The Persimmon Festival Parade is fast approaching--last full week of September. We will also need volunteers to ride/walk/decorate/drive in that parade also, if we are going to enter a unit!

--It would be FABULOUS to have someone who would volunteer to organize parades!!!! We have flags, banners, and signs for the parade organizer to use, all we need is a volunteer!

Don't forget to keep us updated on your service member's current address. And, remember, if your service member has a special day--birthday, anniversary, promotion--or has a special need, please let us know. We will announce it, as well as their address, for a card shower!!!!

Also remember HHAFFA is here for our troops and their families back home, but also remember that HHAFFA is YOU!!! HHAFFA needs YOU!!!! Rest up! Christmas will be here before you know it!!!! (HHAFFA Christmas activities begin in September/October!!!!)

Let me know what HHAFFA can do for you, but please think about what YOU can do for HHAFFA (paraphrasing JFK a little there)!!!!

God Bless Our Troops and their families back home!
Nancy Peabody

Newsletter

Reminder:--PACKING PARTY on Monday, July 20th at 6 pm in the HHAFFA office. We will pack sunflower seeds and peanuts donated by Hackney Trucking (Mitchell) and items donated by shoppers at Big Lots in Bedford. We will be packing and sending boxes to our 29 service members deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan! Hope to see you there!

SHOUT OUT!!!!!--We have been invited to participate in the Oolitic Festival Parade on September 12th. I need the following: either
1) at least 5 volunteers who are willing to walk in the parade,
2) someone willing to volunteer their truck and volunteer to decorate it and drive it, additional people can either ride or walk carrying banners and the American flag in front
3) full float entry, where we will need people to help decorate and a truck to pull it--others to ride on the float or walk beside it.
Now what I need from you is this--WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE TO PARTICIPATE?? If you can participate in any way--please let me know. We will not participate unless we have enough volunteers!

--The Persimmon Festival Parade is fast approaching--last full week in September. We will also need volunteers to ride/walk/decorate/drive in that parade also.

Hope to see you soon!!!!
Nancy Peabody

National Guard Study

Ryan Fields, Hoosier Uplands, asked HHAFFA to help him reach National Guard families to find out about gaps in post-deployment support. If you are not a National Guard family, perhaps you know someone in the National Guard and can pass the information on.

Betsy

Hello my name is Ryan Fields and I'm in charge of a grant to reduce the substance abuse problem in Lawrence County. We are looking at doing some focus groups with the veterans, their families, and service providers. These focus will last about 30-45 minutes each. I am looking at having 8-10 people in each group. Below is some more information about this.

The Center for Health Policy (CHP) will be assessing the mental health and addiction services offered to National Guardsmen upon their return from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. This will include an evaluation of the issues facing veterans and families and analyzing gaps in treatment services to identify unmet needs. To gain a better understanding of these issues three (3) focus groups will be conducted in the funded SPF-SIG communities,one with veterans, one with family members, and one with service providers. This is very important to our program and it would be greatly appreciated if any of you are willing to help with this project. If you have questions just give me a call. Thank you!

Ryan Fields
SPF-SIG Project Coordinator
Hoosier Uplands AHEC office
500 West Main Street
Mitchell, IN 47446
(812) 849-4447

Updates

Greetings!

What a beautiful weekend! Are you ready for some get togethers???

--Our weekly walk this week is scheduled for Monday at 7 pm at Greenhill Cemetery. Each week we will meet and walk in different locations throughout Lawrence County. If you have a suggestion or idea of where you would like to walk, just let me know! I hope you will plan to join us this week for exercise and fellowship!

--We will be PACKING BOXES to send to our deployed troops on Monday, July 20th at 6 pm at the HHAFFA office (620 H St--park in the back, enter in the rear). We will be sending items donated from Hackney Trucking (Mitchell) and items collected at Big Lots (Bedford) over the 4th of July weekend!

Talk to you soon!
God Bless Our Troops and their families back home!!!
Nancy Peabody

Updates

Happy Independence Day!

As we were all out waving our flags, lighting fireworks (if we weren't rained out), marching in parades (we WEREN'T rained out!), feasting on hamburgers and hot dogs, eating apple pie and enjoying our day yesterday, I hope every one of you reflected on why we were able to do all of those things. We, as Americans, have many people in our history and in the present that we need to remember and thank for our freedoms--from our founding fathers to all the young men and women who have fought or are fighting for our continuous opportunity to celebrate on the 4th of July! Take a moment and say a prayer of thanks and gratitude--not only for your freedoms, but for the men and women who have sacrificed to initiate them and preserve them! God Bless America!

--The 4th of July Parade was a little soggy, but the 23 people who turned out to walk with the HHAFFA unit all had a fabulous time! A BIG Thanks to Debbie Wheelock, who showed up in uniform and carried the US flag! Thank you to Ryan Cable, who carried the HHAFFA sign, with the theme of our entry this year: A Solid Foundation for Our Freedom: The US Military! Thanks go out to Debbie Roberts and her two boys who rode scooters with big signs on the front! Thanks go out to the Robinsons, who carried the banners from the different branches of the service, and thanks to Joe and Betsy Henley, Mike Wheelock, Lynda Cable, Wayne and Mary Umphress, Royce Peabody, Janet Lee, Randy and Tammy Lee, Kim Johnson, Phil Inman, Terri Watts, and Chris and Lisa Sallade for walking and carrying signs!! God Bless all of you!

--Our weekly walk this week is scheduled for Monday at 7 pm at Greenhill Cemetery. Each week we will meet and walk in different locations throughout Lawrence County. If you have a suggestion or idea of where you would like to walk, just let me know! I hope you will plan to join us this week!!!


We are entering a rather "slow" time in HHAFFA activities, but we will continually be sending cards and letters to our service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the summer, so please keep us updated on current addresses. If you or your service member, have a special need, let us know. If your service member has a special day coming up--birthday, anniversary, promotion, etc--let us know, we will announce it, as well as their address, for a card shower!!!

Remember HHAFFA is here for our troops and their families back home, but also remember that HHAFFA is YOU! HHAFFA needs you! Rest up!

Christmas will be here before you know it!!!! (HHAFFA Christmas activities begin in September/October--egads!!!)

God Bless Our Troops and their families back home!
Nancy Peabody