It's that time of year again. Today began the annual Project Valour-IT fundraiser with a friendly little inter-service rivalry to make it fun. This year, the ladies heading up Team Marine beat Team Army (this time lead by Matt from Blackfive) again in inviting me to be on their team. So, even though Dad was in the Army and Grandpa was in the Navy, I'm working for the Marines again.
Over the past year, I got only a little taste of what it is like to lose your independence. I had an "episode" just before Christmas that resulted in being told I wasn't allowed to drive for six months, to see if whatever it was that happened to me while I was sitting at my desk at the office happened again. Wouldn't do to be behind the wheel and be unconscious... It sucked to have to have my parents drive me to work and pick me up and to have to arrange ahead of time for getting to and from any extracurriculars I wanted to do. But, I still had the use of my arms, legs and eyes.
There are those of our service members who have lost that, too often times permanently. Project Valour-IT seeks to return some of that independence back to troops. Originally, this project solely provided laptops with voice-activated software to Wounded Warriors.
Since then, it has been expanded to help meet the needs of other Wounded Warriors with other technology. One of the side effects of TBI and PTSD is short-term memory loss; handheld GPS units for those coping with TBI and PTSD gives them back a measure of independence. Wii Video Game Systems are used as part of physical therapy in hospitals, improving recovery times and likely giving the troops an outlet for their competitive drive they didn't lose when they were injured.
In order for Soldiers' Angels to continue providing this technology for our Wounded Heroes, we need YOUR help. I know times are tough - I think most everyone is feeling the pinch - but please consider donating to Project Valour-IT. The goal this time around is $60,000. The fundraising drive runs through Veterans' Day, November 11, 2011. Just click on the widget on the sidebar on the right. No amount is too small.
In addition to the "normal" donation option, this time, you have the option to donate unwanted & unused balances on gift card, to transfer stock, to make a wire transfer, or, you can check out the items up for auction, all proceeds going to Project Valour-IT (check the auction items regularly, new items will became available every day, through Thursday, November 4th, with each auction running 7 days).
Other Team Marine blog posts about Project Valour-IT:
Why I Support Valour IT
It's Time For The Project Valour-IT Blog Competition
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