Deployed Troops Morale Booster

Website

http://www.operationpopcorn.us

What is your idea to address an unmet need of service members, veterans and their families?

When they're away from home, our deployed Troops work long, hard days and welcome a taste of home. We send individual bags of gourmet popcorn with messages attached that they can carry in their pocket as a reminder that people in the States still think of them every single day. This small gift puts a smile on every face! For soldiers without families, this may be all they get from home. Some of them have sent letters and emails to thank us and ask for more! And we've been told that the popcorn "raises morale tenfold." Photos they send back show those smiles!

What specific population do you plan to work with? What is their unmet need?

Troops in all military branches deployed in the Middle East.

What is your implementation plan, and how would the $1,000 be used?

We purchase individual serving size bags of gourmet popcorn from a local popcorn shop, attach a poker chip with a message written on it to each bag, and ship 50-75 bags per box to deployed Troops. $1000 would enable us to send popcorn to at least 650 men and women currently deployed in the Middle East.

How are volunteers the key ingredient to your solution?

The women in the Mu Gamma Chapter work together to sign the poker chips with "Thank You" and other short encouraging messages, then attach one to each bag of popcorn before packing them into shipping boxes. The boxes are taken to the Post Office to ship the same day so that the popcorn is as fresh as it can be when it arrives.

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