8 Jun 06
Here is the letter I am sending with the quilt to raise money for the Children's Scholarship Fund:
Dear Mr. Hannity, LtCol Ollie North, and The Freedom Alliance,
My husband is a disabled vet. Although he never served his country like he wanted to and like the many soldiers, airman, and sailors do today in Iraq and Afghanistan, to me, he is a hero nonetheless. I am proud of every service member fighting and defending my freedom. I am a true believer that Freedom is NOT free!
A long time ago, we decided we would not have children while my husband was still active in the military. He got out of the military a few months before our son was born. He misses it every day. But, when he sees the pictures of the service members leaving their families, or a soldier holding his baby for the first time, or a child holding a picture of his father while his mother is dressed in black?he knows he made the right choice. But it is still very hard for him to have given up his life?s dream of being a soldier.
I am writing you because I would like to offer you something for your Freedom Fest to raise money for the Scholarship Fund for the Children of our Slain Service Members. I have made a Freedom Quilt I would love to donate to you in order for you to raise some money for your scholarship fund. I thought this would be a great way to give more than I can financially. If you could offer it as a raffle, say, a $1 or $2 a ticket, and then take the quilt with you to your Freedom Fest to show it off, maybe you could raise more money for your cause. And then, at the end of your tour, you can pull a name out of a hat and one lucky winner would walk away with the quilt. The quilt can touch the hearts of so many as the hearts of so many can touch the quilt. The love that went into making this quilt will continue on through the giving of the quilt. I hope it can provide the comfort to someone who needs it?a warm hung when nothing else is there.
I?m hoping you will say yes, and I can send this quilt to you right away. I have tried contacting Mr. Hannity through his show, but was unsuccessful. I found the Freedom Alliance site and decided to try to fax the letter to you hoping it would get through. It is the only way I know how to contact you. Thank you for your time, effort and talent! God Bless you all!
Here is the response I got from the Freedom Alliance:
On Sat, 24 Jun 2006 22:24:09 -0400
"Steven A. Castleton" wrote:
Jamie,
Sorry I did not get back to you sooner, but I wanted to write this to you after I spoke with two of my sons earlier today, both of which are in the Army.
Over the years we have received many, many offers of donations. There are many people like you who wish to help. Most of them wish to donate items such as trips, hotel stays, jewelry, sports memorabilia and the like.
BUT, let me say that you are in a class all by yourself. To put in the many, many hours to make that by hand, with love from the heart means so much more. You made this, you did not buy something, you made this with many, many hours of hard work and I am sure sore fingers.
On behalf of the many, many parents of sons and daughters who are defending our great country, I thank you from the bottom of my heart....
The winner of your quilt donated it to a wounded soldier who lost his leg in
Iraq. Him and his wife recently became the proud parents of a baby girl....
