[StBernard] MARDI GRAS PACKAGES FOR LA. TROOPS

[Westley Annis]

Editor's note: I will totally vouch for all that Greta does.

You can find out more about her through her web site:
http://www.kissmygumbo.com

You can also follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kissmygumbo
Listen to her Saturday mornings on WIST AM 690 9:00-10:00 AM

She used to write a blog for NOLA.com until they decided she was too
"controversial" when she started the petition drive to oust the Mayor of
Mandeville.

-----------------------------------
By Sheila Stroup

Throw them something overseas

Sunday, January 25, 2009 
Sheila Stroup
For Louisiana soldiers far from home, there will be no king cake this year,
no parade schedule to study, no smell of barbecued chicken cooking along St.
Charles Avenue on Mardi Gras. 
But a group called Soldiers' Angels is asking us to send a taste of Mardi
Gras to members of the 244th Louisiana Guard unit serving in Iraq. The unit
left Hammond in April and isn't scheduled to come home from Iraq until
sometime this summer. 

"We know people in Louisiana want to support the troops," Greta Perry said.
"But they just don't know how to sometimes." 

Greta, a volunteer with Soldiers' Angels, wants to make sure every man and
woman in the 244th receives a box full of Carnival goodies. 
"Remembering the soldiers is my mission," she said. 

--- Special deliveries --- 
To remember a soldier at Carnival time, get a special 12-by-12-inch
flat-rate box from the post office that says "America Supports You," plus a
Customs Declaration and Dispatch Form. The box is free, and it will cost
$11.95 to ship it to an Army post office. 

Fill the box with throws and Louisiana foods, costumes, decorations and
cards made by children. (No pork products, liquids or obscenity, please.) 
Enclose a note including your name and address, write "Operation Overseas
Mardi Gras" on the box, and contact Greta at gretaperry at gmail.com or
985.807.4805 to get the shipping address. 


"That's so I can keep track of the boxes sent," she said. 
Take the box and the customs form to the post office by Feb. 7, and brighten
a soldier's Mardi Gras. 

 
So far, 145 boxes have been committed to be sent to Iraq, and there are 350
soldiers in the unit. 

"If we get more boxes than we need, we already have another Louisiana unit
picked out to receive them," Greta said. 

For Greta, who lives in Mandeville, her work with Soldiers' Angels is a
labor of love. 

"When my husband retired from the military two years ago, I picked one
nonprofit to stick with forever, and this is it," she said. 

After meeting the founder of the national volunteer group at a military
blogging conference, Greta was invited to visit patients at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington with some members. 

It was such a moving experience, she has trouble talking about it. 

"It's just life-changing getting to know the wounded heroes and their
families," she said. "Their attitudes are so positive. They don't want your
pity. They just want your support." 

. . . . . . . 
For more information about Operation Overseas Mardi Gras 2009 and about
other ways to support the troops, go to www.soldiersangelsla.org
<http://www.soldiersangelsla.org/>  or contact Greta.