Would you be willing to donate to our Veterans Day Baskets for Vets campaign this year? We are creating fun goodie bags with some inexpensive items to brighten our Vets’ day and tell them we THANK THEM for their service to America! Last year, we sponsored 170 Vets in 5 retirement communities in Washington County, one retirement community in Douglas County and the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home in Sarpy County. The Fort Calhoun Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts wrote personal “thank you for your service” notes to each Vet for their bag. The Blair VFW posts donated their time and talents, as well as the Veterans Service Office of Washington County, the Veterans Service Office of Douglas County and the Veterans Service Office of Sarpy County. During last year’s community service campaign, we made so many Vets smile!
This year we’d like to see if we can expand our reach into Harrison and/or Pottawattamie counties as well. Our goal is to hand out a total of 200 goodie bags to recognize Vets for their service. Our monetary donations last year covered the full purchase of the bags and many of the patriotic contents therein. Our monetary goal this year is $2,500! Will you help us get there?
We will be delivering the goodie bags to the Vets prior to Veterans Day, so we would like donations no later than Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 or sooner (so we have time to buy items and put all the gift bags together). You would be donating to a great cause and giving back to VETS who’ve given so much to our country and sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms and liberty we have today!
Any monetary amount or in-kind donation from you would greatly help! Checks can be made out to Omaha Federal Credit Union and routed to Julie Gasper, Vice President of Marketing, here at our Main Branch. Or you can drop items or checks off at any of our 3 branches. OR, if you prefer to buy items for inclusion in the gift bags, the following is a list of suggested items needed. Please bring your donated items to any of our 3 branches no later than Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 or sooner. Please DO NOT put the items in a basket – we will be dividing all the items up fairly to insert them in branded bags that we (OFCU) are purchasing.
ITEMS NEEDED
Playing Cards
Snacks
2024 wall calendars
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Mints
Combs
Brushes
Crossword puzzles
Word Searches
Patriotic socks or plain socks
Anything patriotic
Candy
Mints
Gum
Small Journals
Tablets
Puzzles and games
Hand Sanitizer
Word Search puzzle books
Stamps
Books
Magazines
Gift cards
Hygiene items
Anything that you think a Vet (man or woman) in a retirement/nursing home would like
It has been a pure JOY to serve all of these Vets, and I hope they enjoy their gifts and know how special they are to our communities and our country! Again, thanks SO MUCH in advance for your support and generosity, as well as your dedication to serving your community!
Here is a quote from a proud and appreciative Vet:
“I received the generous bag of goodies today and was very pleased!! I thank all who donated items, lots of snacks, pens and other things that will come in handy. The people were very generous and I appreciate it.” — Pat Hunsche, former U.S. Navy WAVE