Yes, I’m asking for your money again

Yes, yes, yes. It’s that time again. Time for the awesomeness that is Netroots for the Troops®. Wait, you don’t know what NFTT is? NFTT is a what I call “The 33-Minute Miracle”. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Every year at the annual Netroots Nation conference, the largest event of the year for progressive blogggers, writers and activists, a group of dedicated individuals pull of an major service event where hundreds of CARE packages are assembled and then shipped to our troops over seas. This year, we’re including some vets that are in U.S. hospitals, returned from war.

You can help by making a donation HERE.

From the NFTT website:

All told, in those four years we have shipped 1100 Care Packages to military personnel in three different Brigades of the 3rd Marine Division in cooperation with their Family Readiness Office, and to elements of the 101st Airborne. This year we’ll be supporting the 841st En Bn. LTC William S. “Clete” Schaper Battalion Commander.﻿ All told, in those four years we have shipped 1100 Care Packages to military personnel in three different Brigades of the 3rd Marine Division in cooperation with their Family Readiness Office, and to elements of the 101st Airborne. This year we’ll be supporting the 841st En Bn. LTC William S. “Clete” Schaper Battalion Commander.﻿ This year our goal is twofold: 150 Care Packages overseas, and 300 to VA Hospitals in the NE/NY region. That’s no small matter. Acquiring the products to go into the packages and shipping them overseas will cost approximately $100,000. To meet that goal, we need your help.

So, why do I call it The 33-Minute Miracle? Well, in the past, I have said that NFTT is something that “takes 364 days and 23 and half hours to get ready for and 33 minutes to make happen.” In other words, we plan and raise money all year for an event that, once it starts, only takes 33 minutes (that was our record last year.)

Here’s what it looks like in progress:

Part of that 364 days and 23 and half hours is raising the funds needed to purchase the items for our CARE packages and then putting the logistics in place to pull off The 33-Minute Miracle.

You can help us make that happen by making a donation HERE.

Here’s what we started with last year [all images courtesy of kayakbiker, used with permission]:

This is what we do with it:



jlms_qkw on the left, Jonathan Tasini on the right.



Common Sense Mariner and texasmom front and center

None of this happens without YOU.

I would be flattered if you would help out Team Eclectablog reach its fundraising goal of $2,000 by making a donation HERE. If you go to the page, you’ll see that we’re already nearly 40% to our goal thanks to a couple of generous donations from Daily Kos readers. Won’t you help us reach that goal?

One more thing: Last year, I was honored to be Chief Pootie & Woozle Herder (aka volunteer coordinator) for the NFTT effort. It’s an important role because, as we all know, without close supervision, pooties and woozles can get into mischief.

In fact, last year while my back was turned, we almost lost Netroots for the Troops Fearless Leader and Chief TexDem to Bill in Portland Maine who Darth Vadered him when I wasn’t looking:

So, in addition to making a generous donation to the cause (Team Eclectablog has a $1,500 goal), I need pooties and woozles VOLUNTEERS! If you planning on attending the 2012 Netroots Nation conference (June 7-10, 2012) in Providence, Rhode Island this year and are interested in helping out, I need to hear from you. We need volunteers to:

Staff the booth

Assemble boxes

Help with set-up for the 33-Minute Miracle

Fill CARE package boxes during the 33-minute Miracle

Generally help with any emergencies that pop-up during the week

If you can help, please email me at [email protected] I will be putting up a Google Spreadsheet soon so that we can begin to assign folks to shifts but I need to begin hearing from you NOW.

One more thing: Want to be an assistant Pootie and Woozle Herder? I need a couple of assistants. If that’s something you’d be interested in, please let me know.

For more pictures of last year’s event and the dramatic story of our Fearless Leader TexDem’s emergency trip to the hospital and emergency surgery immediately following Netroots Nation 2011, check out my recap post from last year HERE.