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Is there a program to donate your air miles to military families, and if so, how do you go about donating your air miles? The answer is YES, there is a program called HERO Miles. These donated miles go into a pot that is used to get family members of hospitalized troops to the facilities to be with their loved one at no cost to them. This program is run by the Fisher House Foundation. What a good way to use those excess miles that are just sitting going to waste or getting ready to expire on your card. To do this, you must have a minimum of 5,000 miles to donate. You can go to www.heromiles.org and download the form to donate your miles, or you can call your airline directly and ask them about donating your miles to the Hero Miles program.
Donations are currently being accepted from the following ten airlines: Airtran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Air Lines and US Airways.
Operation DVD is an appeal for donations of new and used DVDs which are then shipped to our fighting men and women overseas. Operation DVD continues the tradition started by the great Bob Hope to provide entertainment for our troops.
Please visit www.OperationDVD.net for additional information and FAQs about Operation DVD and to find where you can obtain your collection boxes. When filled, the “Collection Boxes” are shipped to a sorting center where “children titles” are separated and sent to service men and women’s families (Stateside) through the Family Readiness Group(s) of the National Guard.
While the focus is Iraq and Afghanistan, DVDs are also being sent to Kuwait (for deploying troops) and to Wounded Warriors receiving treatment in Military and Veterans Hospitals around the world.
Jerry Clarke, president of the Long Beach Computer Club in California, suggested that the Southwest Conference collect DVDs at the event. Each person donating a DVD received a ticket and the winner got a big box of goodies to take home. Many computer clubs picked up on the idea and are collecting DVDs as a community service project. When I was at my daughter’s house outside of Denver this summer, I asked her to donate any DVDs she no longer wanted. She said, no, that she wanted an additional community service project for her company, Rio Tinto Minerals, and this was going to be it. She received many emails from grateful parents with a family member overseas. She said that when she contacted Operation DVD, the person mentioned that he had been contacted by many people who had attended the conference. User Groupies do make a difference!