Call for Support of Soldiers Returning from Afghanistan

Call for Support of Soldiers Returning from Afghanistan
Advertising Sought to Let Soldiers Know About our Services

Around 10,000 soldiers will be returning to Fort Lewis from Iraq and Afghanistan over the next three months. These soldiers will be bringing home with them their cumulative experiences from an entire year of combat experiences. According to the Department of Defense, one in three of these soldiers will have post-traumatic stress disorder. This will undoubtedly manifest itself in the form of domestic violence, drunk driving, drug use, suicide, and violent crime. These members of our community will be in need of services that the Army does not provide.

Coffee Strong is gearing up to prepare to help these returning soldiers. We staff GI rights counselors, make referrals to mental health counseling, and Veterans Benefits Advocates. We provide links to services in the community for soldiers, veterans, and military family members. But this will all be for not if we fail to reach the military community to let them know that these services exist.

We need to advertise to ensure that returning soldiers utilize these services. We must raise $6,000 now to take out ads in local papers. Without your support this will not happen. We need your contribution to ensure that any soldier who needs help will get it, and many are denied services due them. Together we can save lives and make sure that no one falls through the cracks because nobody is there to listen.

To donate to Coffee Strong go to http://www.coffeestrong.org/you-can-help/make-a-donation/.
Please share this note far and wide.

Seth Manzel

Executive Director
GI Voice/Coffee Strong

The Coffee Strong community must raise $75,000 in total, in 2010. Your support is needed to ensure that any soldier who needs help gets critical, timely services.

Warmest Thanks to...

Our remarkable webmaster, Johan Genberg, who provides calm steady explanations while creating systems that work for us. Now we need to hear from you: what would you like to see, what do you think? Go to http://www.coffeestrong.org and send us your feedback!

Mark Fleming and “The Magster” for their $1,000 challenge donation that prompted many of you at last year's VFP regional conference to donate the rest of the funds needed to install the Reader Board. Photos of the reader board are in the Gallery.

Mark joins Board member Dennis Mills to offer Veterans Benefits Advocacy training; the exam for doing so follows study of huge tomes. Each Friday, Mark and Dennis are available to assist veterans with questions about their benefits at Coffee Strong. Other skills Mark provides include reviewing grants, and offering to assist with business plan development.

Susan Arndt, Karen Konzen and Heather Ostle for outstanding culinary skills, and fun spirits while preparing for the April 23 Ann Wright evening. Special thanks to American Friends Service Committee Director Susan Segall for arranging use of the Quaker Meeting Place. A rich discussion began that you can join in on Coffee Strong’s Facebook! Ann, we appreciate you and all you do as The Woman of the Year.

Two members of Veterans For Peace who generously donated $550 to start Coffee Strong Gift Cards, to be launched next month. We are very excited about an easy way to encourage your friends to stop in for coffee, and pick up t-shirts.

The Sparkplug Foundation, who awarded Coffee Strong an operating grant of $10,000 to further our work with getting word out re: Stop Loss policy (results in soldiers being re-enlisted without their consent). Currently Coffee Strong is launching a ‘zine to discuss these issues, among many. And a new service is gearing up to connect vets and soldiers with local schools to emphasize the importance of Opt Out and Stop Loss policies, fully understanding what recruiters do not tell students about enlistment. We feel truly fortunate to have had this opportunity to organize our services.

Karen Forchione and Tahoma Unitarian Universalists. The Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee organized a month-long Change for Change program to benefit Coffee Strong! “Because May has several days that are dedicated to the military and war (Armed Forces Day & Memorial Day), let's take a stand for PEACE!”
Thanks to seven UU congregations, Coffee Strong received $5,000 in matching funds!

See http://www.tuuc-wa.org/news.html for details.

Needed at Coffee Strong

Experienced volunteer to assist with fundraising. contact@coffeestrong.org for further details.

A student or faculty contact at Seattle University. contact@coffeestrong.org for further details.
Coffee Strong Presence

Soldiers and vets were at numerous events this past month, from LA to Seattle (VFP concert benefit with David Rovics et al); at a meeting of the Abe Keller Peace Education Fund, and at local colleges. Join us at the Solstice Parade June 19 in Fremont, where we will march with the Lake Forest Peace & Justice group. IVAW vets will be at the US Social Forum in Detroit June 22-26.