More Hats & School Supplies

Today I received word that 5 additional boxes were heading out to Mark tomorrow. Amongst the school supplies, the sisters in the St. James Ward of St. George, Utah produced 47 hats for the men and women to wear under their helmets. They will be most welcomed as the fall and winter months approach.

Thank you to all the members of the St. James Ward for your support, service and generosity!

Stephanie & Mark

What's New??

Here is the latest on our school supply project ... in early June I was able to purchase and send 3 more boxes of supplies. In late July, we received another generous check donation which allowed us to purchase supplies during the back to school sales. We took advantage of the sales and just this week we sent off 6 additional boxes of supplies. Other supplies were sent off by Rick & Moni Fullmer before they left of their mission from the Winchester Stake Relief Society.

All supplies have been donated to the children with the exception of the supplies that were recently sent above. Mark's first year in Afghanistan is coming to a close and we have not been able to secure a job state-side. At this time, Mark is going through the motions for an extension on his time there to continue to provide for our family. The current game plan is to extend for another 9 months. Thus I am continuing our efforts to collect school supplies to send.

Over the past couple of months I have sent off:

144 Colored Pencils - bringing the total sent to 1875

1296 Crayons - bringing the total sent to 8702

120 Notebooks - bringing the total sent to 379

4200 Sheets of Paper - bringing the total sent to 25,770

1480 Pencil Erasers - bringing the total sent to 3077

1056 Pencils - bringing the total sent to 4852

352 Pens - bringing the total sent to 3617

If anyone is interested in continuing our efforts, please contact me directly at stephanie.bridges100@gmail.com and I will be happy to provide information.

Thank you all for your continued help & support!

Stephanie & Mark

Current Totals ... Thank You!!

I'm getting ready to relocate to Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming this week. As I am preparing to leave St. George, I am reminded of all the support and love that has been shown for this service project. Here are the totals of what we have sent in support of the children in Afghanistan!

Alphabet Borders - 1

Alphabet Letters - 7 sets

Bandaids - 30

Binders - 1

Caddy - 1

Calculator - 1

Chalk - 124 pcs

Colored Pencils - 1731

Coloring Books - 3

Construction Paper - 1669

Crayons - 7406

Dental Floss - 8

Dry Board Erasers - 2

Dry Erase Markers - 50

Envelopes - 409

Expandable File - 1

Glue Bottles - 8

Glue Sticks - 115

Graph Paper - 80

Handi Tak - 1

Hanging File Folders - 32

Learning Cards - 7 boxes

High Liters - 243

Manuscript Paper - 1400

Markers - 395

Notebooks - 259

Notepads - 27

Paper - 21570

Paper Clips - 800

Pencil Erasers - 1597

Pencil Sharpeners - 381

Pencils - 3796

Pens - 3265

Playdoh - 4 bottles

Push Pins - 100

Pocket Folders - 214

Rulers - 74

Scissors - 38

Stationary - 7

Stickers - 2001

Tab Dividers - 10

Tape - 2 boxes

Toothbrushes - 182

Toothpaste - 212

Tracing Strips - 14

Water Color Pads - 3

Water Color Paint - 6

Wet Erase Markers - 47

Zip Lock Bags - 450

Helmet Liners / Hats - 86

Cash Donations - $935

Thank You Winchester, VA

The Winchester, VA Stake Relief Society collected and donated 6 boxes of supplies that went off to Mark this week. Moni Fullmer helped collect, sort, count & ship all supplies and we are so grateful for her help & support! Here is a picture of Aiden (Moni's Grandson) who is helping to sort & count the supplies. Here are the highlights to all their donations including money for shipping!


3360 Sheets of Paper
33 Notebooks
789 Pencils
576 Crayons
62 Pencil Sharpeners and the list goes on!

I will be posting all new totals here shortly for ALL supplies that have been donated & sent!

Winchester, VA Stake Relief Society Collection

On April 17th, the Winchester, Virginia Stake Relief Society had a donation drive during their Saturday meeting. Moni & Heather Fullmer along with several others from the Stake Relief Society help create a table where pictures of the children were displayed and information on what we are doing was available. Moni emailed and told me it was quite a big success. We have many more boxes to ship to Mark which will be on their way next week. Moni is still gathering up contributions and I will post their totals as soon as I receive them! Thank you to all the wonderful sisters who helped support the educational & school supplies for the children in Afghanistan! Here are the pictures that Moni sent to me.

Distribution to Bibi Khala Girls School

Today, Tuesday, April 27th Mark was able to make a distribution of supplies to the girls school. Apparently they have two sessions where somewhere between 500 and 600 kids are in each session of the school. Mark along with an interpreter and 4 other women were able to get in to the school and hand the supplies directly to the children. Mark was also amazed to know that there were male teachers at the school along with a few young male children. I'm so proud of everyone's efforts to help make this a realty for these children. Because of the distribution ... Mark had a GREAT day in Afghanistan. Thanks to all who have contributed and continue to contribute!

Mark along with the interpreter, doctors, medics to make the distributions.


Shana talking to the children in a hallway.

Mark in front of classroom.

Gathering up supplies to distribute.

Handing out supplies in the classroom.

Little girl in hallway to see what was going on.


Male Afghanistan teachers at girls school.


Little boy at the girls school happy to have pens!


Children in hallway - Mark said he wished he had a washcloth!


Cassie & Mark handing out supplies.

Little girl checking out the supplies in the hallway.

Generous Donations Still Coming In ...

Today we received a generous donation from a Relief Society womens group here in St. George, Utah. This all came in from the branch that Mark's parents go to over off of Mall Drive. Here is a summary of what we received today:

5 Dental Floss
29 Boxes of toothpaste
50 Glue Sticks
3 Glue Bottles
25 Childrens Scissors
1 Storage Caddy
30 Bandaids
1 Box of Flash Cards
9 Hi-Liters
182 Erasers
1 Large Screw-In Sharpener
61 Pencil Sharpeners
80 Pieces of Graph Paper
22 Tooth Brushes
847 Pencils
67 Markers
24 Rulers
3 Marker & Watercolor Pads
1 Water color paint set
164 Pens
24 Pieces of chalk
15 Folders
1 Coloring book
7 Sets of Alphabet Letter Stickers
2 Stationary Envelopes
7 Stationary Paper Boxes
44 Notebooks
17 Note Pads
4 Legal Pads
1025 Pieces of Construction Paper
3200 Loose Paper
1000 Sheets of Copy Paper
18 Helmet Liners
And .... a HUGE Cash donation which will be used to help ship everything over!

One additional donation for 144 Pencil Sharpeners came in this week as well! WOW! Great week for the kids in Afghanistan!!! THANK YOU!!!

Beauty in Afghanistan

Today Mark forwarded pictures taken by a professional photographer of the City of Qalat. The first two are of the bluff and the third is of Alexander the Great Fortress. Beautiful pictures ... it looks so peaceful. Unfortunately, spring has sprung and with the warm weather the bad guys are coming out in full force. Please say an extra prayer for the both the civilians and the armed forces who are there just trying to help the innocent improve their lives.

Latest in Totals ....

I thought I would update everyone on the latest totals of what we have sent. While our focus has been on school supplies, we have not turned down donations in other areas and all that we have received has been sent and of course appreciated! Thank you SO MUCH for all your support!

Alphabet Border 1
Chalk 80 pieces
Colored Pencils 1146
Construction Paper 336 pieces
Crayons 5004 WOW!!
Dental Floss 3
Dry Board Erasers 2
Dry Erase Markers 50
Envelopes 389
Expandable File 1
Glue Bottles 5
Glue Sticks 57
Handitak 1
Hanging File Folders 32
Learning Cards 6 boxes
Hi-Liters 234
Markers 269
Notebooks 185
Paper (Loose) 14010 sheets WOW!!
Paper Clips 800
Pencils 1960 WOW!!
Pencil Erasers 1002
Pencil Sharpeners 107
Pens 2958 WOW!!
Pocket Folders 164
Rulers 48
Scissors 8
Stickers 2000
Tape 2 boxes
Toothbrushes 125
Toothpaste 162 tubes
Tracing Strips 14
Water Color Paints 5
Wet Erase Markers 47
Zip Lock Bags 450

Distribution Pictures

Here are the pictures that Mark sent to me from the first distribution of supplies in the city of Qalat. The ceremony had many of the local officials and General Walsh also attended the event. Mark was very much in the background of this ceremony and when the ceremony was over there was not a lot of time. The troops had to move out and therefore Mark did as well. Congratulations to everyone for helping to make this event happen! We hope for another distribution during the month of March!

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - Qalats prison is in the background

where known Taliban is housed. New perimeter wall around prison.

School Supply donation tables

Armed Forces Network covered the event. Provincial Governor is being interviewed.

Sorry about layout ... I could not change this.

General Walsh with interpretor.

PRT Security Forces and ANP security handled the perimeter.

Mark's Weekly Letter

I thought this letter was appropriate to post today and it will give you a little insight to Mark's life right now at FOB Smart.

Qalat 2/19 - 2/27

All:

As with so many other weeks, I wish that I had time to write more than I know I'll be able to. Time, in so many cases, is a commodity that is in short supply and this week is no exception. With a complete turnover of the PRT expected soon, I find that I'm not only busy helping the outgoing military contingent tie up loose ends, but I'm trying to get to know (and coordinate with) the portion of the new contingent that has already come in. With that in mind, I'll try to fill you in on some of the highlights of the week.

Earlier this week, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the Sheik Mati Boy's Dorm. It's not complete yet, but it was close enough for the outgoing commander to schedule the ceremony. General Walsh was in attendance as well as the Provincial Governor, Minister of Education, and other VIP's. As is usually the case, I was on the sidelines, which I prefer in a lot of cases. I was able to give a lot of the school supplies that so many of you have contributed, but unfortunately I wasn't able to personally give them to the children. There wasn't time built into the schedule for me to do that, and since perimeter security was leaving immediately after the ceremony so did I. The Headmaster will distribute the supplies as needed to the kids when school begins for them later in March. I did get photos of the ceremony and the tables on which I placed the supplies. I'm sorry about that , but there are times that I have to "go with the flow" when security is an issue. I'll post the photos in the near future, but keep in mind that I didn't distribute the entire "mountain" of supplies, and there should be another distribution in the very near future. The setting will likely be less formal, and I'll be able to interact more with the kids. Having said all that, I want to thank all of you that have contributed supplies to these children. The time and sacrifice that you've put into this endeavor is greatly appreciated not only by me, but the children. I honestly believe that an educated Afghanistan is an Afghanistan that will be self-sustaining.

I don't have time to go into all of the patrols and activity "outside the wire," but let it be sufficient for me to say that we are reeling from all the damage that our four-day storm has generated. Roads have been eroded away, the stability of bridges have been compromised, and all of it needs to be "fixed".

Along with all that I've mentioned, there have been endless meetings and ceremonies as the current PRT prepares to go home. Some are leaving today. I won't bore you with the details of many of those meetings, but I want to mention a couple. One ceremoney was set apart to honor us civilians, and I have to tell you that it was a humbling experience. The commander expressed his gratitude for each of our individual contributions, and we were each given a flag that has been flown here at FOB Smart during our tour with this PRT. We were also each given a coin that commemorates our service here. I was also given the military PRT patch by someone who anonymously left it on the computer I typically work at in the Engineers' Tent. I get a little emotional thinking about the significance of these gifts. In some cases, the gift of flags flown in a combat environment is reserved for the military and I consider it a true honor to have received one. The coin represents membership (or in my case, adoption) of this PRT. It's humbling and it's an honor to be associated with these people. The patch seemed to symbolize acceptance at an entirely different level, since it was also a gift. I'm not entirely certain that I deserved any of it, but I will say that it has been an honor to serve with these people. I'm going to miss them a great deal. Words seem so inadequate here -- I wish you could feel what I feel toward these men and women, so that you could fully understand.

Another ceremony honored one of those individuals wounded during the IED attack several weeks ago. He is the only military person left here from that attack. The rest are currently home stateside. He received a Purple Heart. That was an emotional moment for all of us. What do you say to someone who has earned that reward? "Congratulations" seems inappropriate since nobody really desires to be wounded or killed. The only appropriate thing I could think to say was "Thank you." We all owe him and all those who put themselves in harm's way a debt of gratitude. They serve their country here and make sacrifices that all too often go unnoticed by many.

In closing, many of you are no doubt aware (but some of you may not be) that much of Marjah is now under NATO and Afghan control. Please keep all of our military and deployed personnel in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Mark

Delivery Made!

Wednesday, February 24th 2010, Mark made his first delivery of school supplies to the Sheik Mati boys school in Qalat. This was the grand opening event of the school and their were quite a few local political people including dignitaries from the US Military. I'm waiting to get names and pictures so I can post them but, in the mean while, please know that your contributions have started to make their way to the children. Mark told me this morning that another distribution will be made next week but, I am not sure of the details on the school or location. I'm so glad that we have this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children so far away who have so little. I finished reading Three Cups of Tea this week and continue to be inspired to do more. Today I was in Walmart purchasing folders for .05 cents a piece and had some women behind me that were curious as what the folders would be for. I told them of our project and passed along my newly created business card for this project. I hope the spirit of humanitarian work will continue to spread not only for this project but for so many in the world who are in need of assistance.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

Three Cups of Tea the story of Greg Mortenson and his desire to help the children of Pakistan & Afghanistan by building schools is absolutely amazing. I am currently in the middle of the book after so many people told me that I needed to read it. I am thoroughly enjoying this and it is keeping me motivated with our project. If you have not read this book, please find it and learn of one mans desire to help change the lives of so many innocent children who just want to learn from a teacher in a clean & safe environment.

If all goes well, Mark and company will be delivering 150 1 gallon size bags of paper, crayons, toothpaste, toothbrushes and pens to the poorest of the poor children in the City of Qalat tomorrow. The remaining supplies that he has, which is quite extensive, will be delivered to the two schools in early March. One of the schools is just about completed and the other is out of session right now.

If you want to know more about Greg Mortenson, please visit, http://www.threecupsoftea.com/.

Boxes Are Arriving ...

Spoke to Mark this morning and 13 out of our 19 boxes that I sent recently have arrived! The others will hopefully make it tomorrow or the next day. We are still currently on target for delivery next week to the poorest of the poor children in the City of Qalat. The two schools that we are targeting will be reopening/opening in March so Mark is working on getting a day for them as well.

Another generous check came in this week from a couple here in Utah. The generosity continues to keep our service project alive! I have two more boxes of supplies that came in at Anytime Fitness that I am boxing up and sending out tomorrow! Again, THANK YOU to so many who are making this project come to life!

Check Donation

Today we had a VERY generous check come in to help support our service project from the ladies of Sharing Offering Serving in Sandy, Utah. This organization helps support various projects and organizations each month and I am so happy that they decided to help us! The money that we received will help purchase additional supplies from Mandalay International (see side bar) and pay the shipping to get them to Afghanistan. Thank you SOO much!

Delivery Complete!

Today I delivered 16 boxes to the post office from our donations this week! We also had a couple of generous checks come in that have helped us with our shipping costs which I am grateful for as well. Thank you so much! Here are some photo's of us packing, labeling and getting ready to head to the post office! At this point, the post office here in Santa Clara knows me well and I actually schedule a time to bring in the boxes!

Boxes waiting to be taped & labeled!

Over 1300 Pens in this box alone!
More pens, highlighters ...

Boxes were piling up in our living room!

Oh My Goodness ....

We received FOUR boxes of supplies from Sanford / Newell Rubbermaid today. We were all so excited to open the boxes, take inventory and pictures! I just spoke to Don Presnell who coordinated all of this effort within his organization and gave him a BIG THANK YOU!! Here is a list of what was sent:

3 Pencil Sharpeners

2343 Pens (All kinds and colors)

504 Pencils

246 Pencil Erasers

20 Dry Erase Markers

47 Wet Erase Markers

217 Sharpie Markers

12 Permanent Markers

234 Hi-Liters

180 Metallic Colored Pencils

576 Colored Pencils

Our hearts are so full tonight for the generosity of Sanford / Newell Rubbermaid. Here are some photo's of what we received. All of this inventory will be packaged up tomorrow, custom forms will be filled out and it will all ship out on Friday afternoon. I'll be sure to post pictures of the packaging and delivery to post office. The other great news is that we now have a target date for delivery which is February 19th!

Our First Corporate Donation

I'm thrilled to announce that our first corporate donation from Sanford, a division of Newell Rubbermaid, is on its way! Our friend Don Presnell, contacted his company to see if they would be able to help us with this service project and after just a few weeks, supplies are on their way. I'm so excited to be a part of this service project and I sincerely appreciate the willingness of others to be so generous. Watch for pictures as I will post them as soon as I receive their generous donation!

Anytime Fitness Collection

I have a collections box down at Anytime Fitness, the gym that I frequent on most days, here in Santa Clara, UT. The gym put the word out in their monthly newsletter and the donations are starting to come in! Paper, notebooks, pens and glue are piling in! I plan to leave the box there until the end of the month. I'm sure we'll have at least two more boxes of stuff to send from our friends at the gym! Thank you to Rodger and Steve (the owners) for your help with this project! If you are looking for a gym that can help you out in your city or across the country as you travel, check out Anytime Fitness! The clubs are excellent!
Anytime Fitness

1100 Canyon View Dr.

Santa Clara, UT 84765

Phone: 435.673.9962

Shoes Are Distributed

One of Mark's co-workers and his family along with many, many donations were able to get shoes sent over for the children. Before Christmas of 2009, the shoes were donated to the young girls and just a week ago the boys received their shoes. The effort that it takes to coordinate this donation once even in Afghanistan is amazing. The Afghan National Police along with the men and women in our military all help to make this event come to life. Here are several pictures of the shoes coming "in to town" along with several of the kids receiving their shoes. What a tremendous effort! It brings tears to my eyes to think of the smiles these kids had on their faces!

Shoes Coming in to town.

Crowd waiting for shoes.