Letter of Success
Here’s our letter of success that we sent in to the local papers to let our supporters know how our delivery went and to thank all who made generous donations to our cause!
LehighValleyLive.com published our letter… however, it looks like they got Linda’s name wrong… Oops! Anyway, here’s the letter:
LETTER: Successful delivery to Walter Reed
Thanks again to all who donated and supported us in our 3rd year of collection Tastykakes for our wounded warriors!
Kait
The Delivery 2013
Wow! What a delivery! I apologize that this has taken me so long to post, but it’s done. Here’s how our delivery went down!
Our delivery went very well this year. Once again, this year, we collected roughly 1500 boxes of Tastykakes and over $10k! It was another successful year. Thank you all for your support!
The ride began on Saturday, October 12, 2013. Dave and Bob began their 3 day, 200 mile bicycle journey from Bethlehem, PA to Bethesda, MD. The weather held out for them. It was a bit muddy on the bike trail on day 2, but it wasn’t terrible. They were tired and a bit sore, but they arrived at their destination safe and sound, and in great time too.
Dave and Bob ready to start their 200 mile ride!
Courtesy of Kym. On their way!
On Monday, October 14, 2013, Linda, my husband, and I drove down to Bethesda, along with Tom and Gannon and our trailer of Tastykakes. We met up at our hotel with Dave and Bob. My husband and I finished writing the value of the gift cards on them and then we got ready to head out to dinner.
One of over $8k worth of gift cards!
We got ready and walked to our traditional pre-delivery dinner location: The Tavern at Fire Station 1! We had a great time and good food. It was a nice way to celebrate another successful collection of Tastykakes to support our troops.
Fire Station 1, Silver Spring, MD. Site of our traditional pre-delivery dinner.
We woke up at a decent hour on Tuesday, October 15, 2013, to get ready for our 3rd delivery of Tastykakes and gift cards to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. One we arrived at Walter Reed, we headed straight for the loading dock so we could unload hundreds and hundreds of Tastykakes. We had a lot of help from some wonderful civilian and military employees of the hospital.
Trailer full of Tastykakes!
Unloading…
Lots of Tastykakes!
Even more…
Unloaded and waiting to transport them into the building.
Once we had all of the Tastykakes unloaded and on the loading dock, we put them on dollies and transported them to the lobby where the events staff at Walter Reed already had a table set up for us. We were set up right across from the Warrior Cafe. There was also another table set up in the lobby with a birthday cake for the US Navy’s 238th birthday (Happy Belated Birthday, US Navy)! We hung up our banner that Kari made for us this year on our table, got the gift cards out, the Tastykake t-shirts, and we started to unbox a bunch of cases of Tastykakes and set them up on the table.
Setting up!
Hanging up the banner.
Setting up our table.
Once we were set up, we started handing out our donated items to wounded warriors and troops who walked by. It was nice to hand out Tastykakes and interact with many of the men and women who serve and sacrificed so much for our country. We had many come by who never heard of Tastykakes or who heard of them but never tried them. We had some come by who loved Tastykakes and found their favorites. We even had a few boxes of PowerBars donated this year. Those went very quickly, as many of these wounded warriors wanted to watch what they eat and stay in shape. The gift cards were extremely popular as well.
We were set up from 10am until 1:30pm, so we hit the lunch time rush right in front of the Warrior Cafe. We were also set up when the Navy had their cake cutting ceremony for the Navy’s 238th birthday. So, we received quite a bit of exposure. We even had some wounded warriors and their families coming back for more Tastykakes because they love them so much!
A nice note from the person who donated this box of Tastykakes.
Gannon with Tastykakes and Tastykake t-shirts!
Handing out Tastykakes.
Some of the many boxes of Tastykakes that were donated.
Our set up.
We passed out a lot of Tastykakes, but we still had a lot more in boxes!
One of our signs.
Another nice note from someone who donated Tastykakes!
I enjoyed finding these boxes of Tastykakes with notes written on them for the wounded warriors. How sweet.
By the end of our time at Walter Reed, we still had a ton of Tastykakes left to hand out, so with the help of the events staff, we filled up our table again with Tastykakes – sky high – and left them out for wounded warriors to take as they passed through the area. We made sure the gift cards were handed out to wounded warriors and their families. We hope the Tastykakes were thoroughly enjoyed!
Our table stacked sky high with Tastykakes.
We had a wonderful day. It was humbling and moving to be able to hand out Tastykakes to the many men and women who serve our country. The Walter Reed staff was fantastic to work with. It was awesome to interact with so many service men and women. We had a fun. It was a very good day.
We are very grateful for the experience we had and we are very grateful to all who serve and sacrifice for our country. We are thrilled to be able to show our appreciation and gratitude in a small way, but this can’t begin to explain how grateful we truly are to everyone serving our country, past and present.
Thank you to Walter Reed for being very accommodating!
Thank YOU for all your support and donations to make 2013 another fantastic delivery!
and a BIG THANK YOU to all our service men and women who sacrifice so much for us!
Thank you!
Kait
Photos
I’m back! Sorry for the delay in updating the blog with photos and our account of the delivery! My husband and I just got back from vacation! We had a great time, but more importantly, I finally uploaded some photos from our delivery to our Facebook page.
Here’s a link to the photos.
I will update the blog with an account of the delivery soon, along with posting the photos on here.
Kait
UPDATE: Thank you, Operation Gratitude, for pointing out to me that the link to our FB page didn’t work! Here is the correct link to our Facebook page!
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is the big day! The journey from Bethlehem to Bethesda starts tomorrow! Bob and Dave will be leaving in the morning for Day 1 of the ride. The weather has been rainy here the last couple of days, so lets hope it holds off and they have great weather for their 3 day ride!
Today, Dave and Bob collected the Tastykakes and have them all ready to be loaded into the trailer to drive down to Bethesda. We have lots of Tastykakes! Here are a few pictures from today:
Bob and Dave with some donated Tastykakes that were wrapped up nicely.
Lots of Tastykakes!
More Tastykakes!
And…Even more Tastykakes!
We still have a handful of Tastykakes to be added to that pile! And Flowers Foods sent their donation of Tastykakes directly to Walter Reed for us to be delivered Tuesday morning when we hand out the cakes! Awesome!
Linda also went out to purchase $8k worth of gift cards to hand out with the Tastykakes. Here’s a few pictures of just a handful of the gift cards! There are quite a few more!
A bunch of the gift cards we will be handing out.
We are ready! This is going to be a great event! Thank you all so much for your donations. It’s not too late to donate, we are still accepting monetary donations. You can mail a check to: The Marshall Plan, PO Box 332, Bethlehem, PA 18016 or you can donate via PayPal (see our donate page). Remember, you don’t need a PayPal account to donate through PayPal.
Thank you!
Kait
Local News Segment!
Make sure to watch Channel 69 News WFMZ-TV tonight at 5pm! There should be a segment about the Marshall Plan!
This morning I met with reporter Bo Koltnow and cameraman Albert for a quick interview about the Marshall Plan! Bo and Albert were very nice and put me at ease (since I prefer to be behind the scenes), and fortunately, they are dog people, so they tolerated our “zoo!” We did a short interview and they asked me so questions beforehand to help them have a better understanding of our mission. They were here for maybe 20 minutes at the most. They even entertained our pooches for a bit too. They were very respectful of our wishes and I even showed them a few photos of previous Marshall Plan deliveries. It was a great experience.
Bo and Albert are also meeting with Bob today to get some more footage for the segment!
Our segment should be on tonight at 5pm! How cool!? Make sure to watch! If you are not local and cannot watch Channel 69 News WFMZ-TV, you will be able to find out segment online on WFMZ’s website either later tonight or tomorrow. Please be sure to look out for it! We are very grateful that Channel 69 is doing a segment on us!
We are only a week away from the delivery!!!
Make sure to watch!
Kait
Article
The Morning Call published an article about us in yesterday’s newspaper! Aweomse!!
Here’s a link to the article: Tastykakes for Troops Check it out!
Donations are still welcome! Any little bit helps. We greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
Kait
Donations
Hey all! I’m back in PA with only 11 days left until our Marshall Plan delivery and only 8 days until the Bethlehem to Bethesda ride begins!
We have received a handful of donations already and we are very grateful! Thank you for all your donations! Please keep the donations coming, we are hoping to make this year our best one yet! You can mail a check to our PO Box: The Marshall Plan, PO Box 332, Bethlehem, PA 18016, you can drop boxes of Tastykakes off at any Allentown and Bethlehem Team Capital Bank location, or you can donate via PayPal (the link is below).
Thanks again for all your support! We really appreciate it and we are sure our troops will appreciate it as well!
Kait
Quick Update
Just wanted to post a quick update. Our letter to the editor has also been published on the Morning Call‘s website. Hopefully, that means it was printed in the Morning Call as well. Here’s a link to our letter.
Tastykakes form basis of this Marshall Plan
You can donate via PayPal on our “Donate” page. You can also mail a check to our PO Box (more info on our “Donate” page) and we will be collecting boxes of Tastykakes at Bethlehem and Allentown Team Capital Bank Locations from September 30, 2013 to October 9, 2013.
Thank you! We appreciate your support!
Kait
Sweet Success… Again!
The delivery went well!
Here are a few pictures from the journey!
Here is Linda’s account of the delivery:
Our sincere thanks to everyone who donated and/or supported our 2012 Marshall Plan – another successful year! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Sgt. Zachary Johnson and Corpsman Christopher Johnson, our liasons with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, were very helpful to us in getting set up to distribute our donations on Monday, October 15. Corpsman Chris Johnson also told us some of his fascinating and hair-raising experiences as a medic in Iraq and Afghanistan and gave us insights on some of the items that deployed military members enjoy receiving in care packages – especially snack foods, protein-rich foods, energy drinks, and baby wipes. Nine-year-old Gannon, who was part of our team this year, really enjoyed hearing why tough men and women in uniform wanted baby wipes, and Corpsman Johnson enthusiastically explained this. He also taught us how to chill a can of soda or energy drink by placing it in a wet sock and hanging it where it can catch a breeze. This cools a drink down to about 70 degrees, which tastes like it’s straight from the fridge when the outside temperature is 120!
On a more serious note, being able to personally distribute some of our Tastykake and gift card donations this year was such an incredible privilege. Funny how something as simple as a box of Tastykakes could bring smiles to so many faces. Some had never had them, some had gotten them in care packages while deployed, and some related being from Philadelphia or surrounding area hometowns and having grown up with them. They were very happy with the variety we had to offer and the opportunity to try new flavors!
We were able to speak with (and shake hands with) so many wounded warriors – male and female – and with their parents and spouses as well. We heard stories that inspired and humbled us, and many that gave us chills and brought tears to our eyes. One mother told us of her daughter who’d been shot five times. Another mom’s son had stepped on an IED that was intentionally detonated when someone saw him approach it. Both moms were told their children would probably not make it – yet over a year later, they are with us and doing fairly well. A mom and dad accepted some Tastykakes for their son who was in surgery as we spoke. Other parents told us of being at Walter Reed to celebrate their son’s 25th birthday – something they didn’t think he would see when he came to the Medical Center earlier this year. One warrior with a prosthetic leg told us of the sled hockey team he’d just joined. So many – too many – were multiple amputees, some ambulating on prosthetics or with crutches, others still in wheelchairs. We saw many scars and bandages, an abundance of artificial limbs, many orthopedic devices, and a variety of mobility aids. Yet the wounded warriors we saw and spoke with always had a smile and conveyed a sense of pride and honor in being able to serve. They thanked us sincerely for the cupcakes and gift cards that seemed so insignificant compared to what we gratefully thanked them for – their service and sacrifices for our country.
– Linda Reinbold
Looks like they had a great time! Wish I could’ve been there. Thank you so much for all your support and donations! We really appreciate it! We look forward to doing this again next year! I hope you enjoy Linda’s account of the delivery and the pictures courtesy of Kari and Linda.
Kait
Here We Go…!
Lots going on lately!
I unfortunately will not be able to attend the delivery this year partly because I am so far away in NC now and because of work. However, I’ve been able to help out from afar, which has been great.
Luckily, I was able to get home to PA over Columbus Day weekend, so I had some time to catch up and see what all was going on with the Marshall Plan. We had a few days where we had close to 20 envelopes in the PO Box, which was awesome! We’ve had a handful of monetary donations come in via PayPal as well. Lots of Tastykakes too! It was nice to actually be there for a few days to see what’s happening!
We have roughly the same amount of Tastykakes as last year! Yay! And I believe we will exceed the amount of monetary donations we received last year as well! Awesome!
Mom will be purchasing all the gift cards soon.
While the Tastykake drive has ended, you can still donate money by sending a check or cash to: The Marshall Plan, PO Box 285, Bethlehem, PA 18016. Or.. you can donate via Paypal – check out our donate page on how to do that.
The bike ride from Bethlehem to Bethesda started this morning. Dad and Bob hit the road! They’ll arrive in Bethesda on Sunday!
I’m pumped! What another great year of the Marshall Plan, but you can still help out to make it even better!!
Kait
9/11, Suicide Prevention Month
Hey all!
All our donation info is up! You can send checks to: The Marshall Plan, PO Box 285, Bethlehem, PA 18016. You can donate via PayPal (see button below), or you can drop off boxes of Tastykakes from October 1, 2012 to October 10, 2012 at any of these Team Capital Bank locations:
1901 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18104
2151 Emrick Boulevard
Bethlehem, PA 18020
4285 West Tilghman Street
Allentown, PA 18104
It’s crazy to think that it’s been over 11 years since 9/11/01. I remember it just like yesterday, as I’m sure most people do who were old enough to understand something major and awful was going on when it happened. I hope to someday get a chance to visit the Freedom Tower and the memorial in NYC. My mom, Linda, and my sister, Meg, were just there recently. Here’s a picture from their visit:
We will never forget. Our thoughts and prayers are and will always be with those affected by the events of that day.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Suicide is a serious issue. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please,seek help. Here are some ways from the Wounded Warrior Project to help yourself or a loved one: September is National Suicide Prevention Month.
Here’s a story of how true love always survives: Marine Couple Overcomes Combat Wounds
Don’t forget to donate!
Kait
Press Release 2012
What a great way to celebrate our 100th post… Here’s our new press release for The Marshall Plan 2012!
THE MARSHALL PLAN COLLECTING TASTYKAKES AND DONATIONS FOR US TROOPS
Lehigh Valley, PA, September 2012 – When Kaitlin Reinbold’s Marine boyfriend was stationed in Afghanistan in 2011, she sent care packages to remind him of home. Tastykakes were the most popular items with the Marines, particularly with one named Marshall, who had never had them before. In June 2011, Marshall was severely injured by an I.E.D. He endured surgeries, rehabilitation and physical therapy at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Marshall’s story inspired Bob Price, a friend of Kaitlin’s family, with an idea: show wounded warriors our gratitude and respect by delivering boxes of Tastykakes to Walter Reed. “The Marshall Plan” came together. Bob and Dave Reinbold, Kaitlin’s father, rode on bicycles from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Bethesda, Maryland – 200 miles – followed by the Tastykakes (thanks to Tom and Kari Mesko) and the rest of the team by car a few days later.
On October 17, 2011 the team delivered 1,600 boxes of Tastykakes and more than $9,000 in monetary donations, most of which was used to purchase gift cards for wounded warriors and their families. Excess funds were donated to the USO of Metropolitan Washington in thanks for their help with logistics. The Marshall Plan was also able to send a few care packages to troops in Afghanistan. Marshall, the marine for whom the program is named, is hoping to return to his home and family in Arkansas in December.
The Marshall Plan succeeded because of the kindness and generosity of family members, friends and citizens of the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. Support also came from Team Capital Bank, The Tasty Baking Company and especially Lehigh Valley Tastykake Sales Distributors who were quick to respond with a generous donation.
The Marshall Plan is gearing up to repeat the drive to support our wounded troops. The delivery to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland is scheduled for October 15, 2012. Fresh Tastykakes can be dropped off at any Team Capital Bank location from Monday, October 1 through Wednesday, October 10. Monetary contributions can be mailed to: The Marshall Plan, P.O. Box 285, Bethlehem, PA 18016.
To learn more about The Marshall Plan, see photos and information about efforts to aid our military, visit http://www.SweetThanks4Troops.com
Contact: Kaitlin Reinbold
kardolfin@rcn.com
610-573-8240
Gratitude and Organizations
I know I mentioned before that The Marshall Plan went through the AnySoldier website to find a company, platoon, etc., to send care packages to because of the excess Tastykakes and monetary donations we received after the delivery of Tastykakes to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the USO of Metropolitan DC in October. We sent the a case of Tastykakes at the end of October and received a letter back from our contact person thanking us for the package and for our efforts supporting our troops. We continued to receive some monetary donations and even a few care package item donations after that, so we decided to send out another care package with a holiday theme to bring a little bit of the holiday spirit to a handful of our troops overseas. Last week we received another letter from our contact person thanking us again and saying how great it was to get some holiday decorations because that’s their favorite time of year and it was nice to have a little holiday cheer. So, thank you all for your donations and support. With your help we were able to make the holiday a little brighter for some of our troops who could not be home for Christmas.
I’m continually stumbling across new (to me) organizations that support the troops all the time. Here are 2 more very cool organizations that I came across over the weekend… Definitely worth checking them out!
National Military Family Association – Military families supporting military families. They speak up for them and empower them. They meet the needs of service members and their families as well by providing recommendations, innovative programs and grassroots efforts.
Pro VS GI Joe – Pro VS GI Joe uses technology to connect service men and women with professional athletes, musicians, and other celebrities to play real-time video games and connect families via webcam. They recently launched Rehabbing with the Troops which is a program that allows wounded warriors to work out with pro athletes.
Kait
Editorial Published
The Morning Call finally got around to publishing our editorial thank you to the community for their support and generosity in helping make The Marshall Plan a great success!
It’s short and sweet, and hopefully, it expresses our gratitude appropriately. Check it out here!
Kait
2 Letters
Earlier this week, we received 2 letters in the mail.
The first letter was from our contact person from the company we sent a case of Tastykakes to that is currently in Afghanistan. It was a very nice letter thanking us for what we did and our support for troops at home and abroad. It also told us how much receiving packages is appreciated and how the Marines eyes light up when mail comes. We received the letter very quickly as mail getting to Afghanistan can take a while. But it was very nice to receive the letter. We hope they will enjoy the 30lb holiday themed care package we just sent them earlier this week just as much if not more!
The second letter we received was from a Rear Admiral at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, thanking us for our donation of Tastykakes and gift cards. It was great to receive a letter from them knowing that our donation was received beyond our unloading of the trailer.
If you want to let our troops know you care, one way you can do that is by sending care packages! A great site to get addresses for our troops overseas is anysoldier.com. You can get addresses for any branch of our armed forces, some are large units, some are small, some are looking for certain items, others are not. It’s definitely worth checking it. Spread a little holiday cheer!
Kait
Newspaper Updates
The Morning Call still hasn’t published mom’s letter to the editor. It’s been over a week and a half now and we were originally told it’d be in within a week. Hopefully, they print it soon!
I just found out today that The Batesville Daily Guard published a follow up on The Marshall Plan on the 2nd. Thank you Batesville Daily Guard!
Also, from what I understand, The Bethlehem Press is still working on an article about us as well. Once I hear when it’ll be published, I’ll let you know!
We are in the process of sending out updates, but we want you all to know that we are very grateful for all your support! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Kait
Military Ball and Updated Press Release
Over the weekend I attended a USMC Birthday Ball with my boyfriend. It was a great time. Got to see many familiar faces and meet lots of new people. It was a nice night to honor the Marine Corps and my boyfriend’s battalion, their fallen heroes from this past deployment and previous ones. It was also great to see a few of his battalion’s wounded warriors and to see how well they are doing. Some of them even walking around on their new legs! Very cool. Very inspiring. A humbling experience. These balls are always a reminder (as if I’ll ever forget) to continue to support our troops.
We’ve updated our press release to let the media and everyone else know how successful The Marshall Plan turned out to be!
So… here’s the update!
Press Release
Contact: Kaitlin Reinbold
Email: Kardolfin@rcn.com
Phone: 610-573-8240
Website: www.sweetthanks4troops.com
The Marshall Plan: A Sweet Success
Kaitlin Reinbold had been mailing care packages to her Marine boyfriend in Afghanistan earlier this year. Apparently, Tastykakes were the most popular items among the Marines, particularly one named Marshall, who’d never had them before. In June, Marshall was severely injured by an I.E.D. He was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, where he continues his rehab today.
This inspired a family friend, Bob Price, to come up with an idea – a small gesture of thanks to wounded warriors who deserve our utmost gratitude and respect. The plan was to deliver 1,000 boxes of Tastykakes to the Medical Center. Bob and Kaitlin’s father, Dave, planned to ride there on bicycle (200 miles), followed by the Tastykakes and the rest of the Marshall Plan group by car a few days later. The delivery was made to the Medical Center on October 17. (Please see our website Sweetthanks4troops.com for commentary and photos.)
The plan succeeded far beyond expectations. Approximately 1,600 boxes of Tastykakes were collected, along with over $9,000 in monetary donations, most of which was used to purchase gift cards for wounded warriors and their families. Excess funds were donated to the USO of Metropolitan Washington in thanks for their help with logistics. The response was heartwarming. The plan was a success, thanks to kind and generous family members, friends, and citizens of the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. Special thanks to Team Capital Bank, who supported us in several ways, The Tasty Baking Company, and especially Lehigh Valley Tastykake Sales Distributors who were so quick to respond and so generous with their donation. Thank you all!
Kait
Mom’s Update
Here’s an update from my mom, Linda. She sent this out to local newspapers as an editorial to let the community know how our project went and how grateful we all are for the support we’ve received. The Morning Call has already contacted mom about the editorial and will be publishing it in the paper soon if they haven’t already.
Anyway, here’s what mom wrote….
A sincere thank you to all who so generously donated to our project, The Marshall Plan. Here’s a brief overview of the project and its results:
Our daughter, Kaitlin, had been mailing care packages to her Marine boyfriend in Afghanistan earlier this year. Apparently, Tastykakes were the most popular items among the Marines, particularly one named Marshall, who’d never had them before. In June,… Marshall was severely injured by an I.E.D. He was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, where he continues his rehab today.
This inspired a friend of ours, Bob Price, to come up with an idea – a small gesture of thanks to wounded warriors who deserve our utmost gratitude and respect. The plan was to deliver 1,000 boxes of Tastykakes to the Medical Center. Bob and my husband, Dave, planned to ride there on bicycle (200 miles), followed by the Tastykakes and the rest of us by car a few days later. We made our delivery to the Medical Center on October 17. (Please see our website Sweetthanks4troops.com for commentary and photos.)
The plan succeeded far beyond our expectations. Approximately 1,600 boxes of Tastykakes were collected, along with over $9,000 in monetary donations, most of which was used to purchase gift cards for wounded warriors and their families. Excess funds were donated to the USO of Metropolitan Washington in thanks for their help with logistics. The response was heartwarming; the notes and cards sent with donations brought tears to our eyes. Our plan was a success, thanks to kind and generous family members, friends, and citizens of the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. Special thanks to Team Capital Bank, who supported us in several ways, The Tasty Baking Company, and especially Lehigh Valley Tastykake Sales Distributors who were so quick to respond and so generous with their donation. Thank you all!
Notes from the Community
We received a lot of notes and letters along with donations telling us what people thought of our project…
Here are some of the notes…
“Good Folks,
What you are doing is wonderful – it is the true American spirit.
Thanks you for all your efforts,
Lorraine & Ed”
“This ‘Marshall Plan’ that sends Tastykakes to Walter Reed is a wonderful idea. Thanks to all the soldiers and their families. God bless! – Anne”
“Good luck with this effort! – Leslie & Rick”
“Bob,
Thanks for doing this! We need more people to come up with ideas on how we can help our service people.
Larry”
“Just a note to say thank you. I have a grandson in Afghanistan – career man (6 years). – Doris”
“What a great idea! Thank you for sharing this idea. We owe our soldiers so much. God bless! – Linda”
“Dear Kaitlin, David, Linda & Bob,
What a great uplifting idea for our wounded troops! Thanks for putting it together for them. May the Lord bless your effort.
Sincerely,
Mike & Mari-Cay”
“Just a little help from a WWII Vet. Lots of Luck! – Oland”
“Keep up the good work. – Fred”
“Best of luck on your adventure! Thank you, Pat & Wanda”
We received such a great response from the community. We are very grateful for their donations and support. Thank you.
Kait
Deliveries Done, Support Continues
Wow. We are still getting donations! Thank you!
Even though the delivery is over and we are still getting donations, we are making sure it all goes to support our troops and we will keep you updated on how it all goes.
Currently, we are working on a write up about how the deliveries went to send out to the press and to our big donors. I’ll post it here once it’s finished. And at the moment we have no definite plans for a future Tastykake drive, but we are open to doing something again next year.
I checked yesterday’s Bethlehem Press to see if the article they said they wanted to write made it in this week’s edition, but I couldn’t find it. Oh well. It was worth a shot.
Here is an article from the Huffington Post’s 10-part series Beyond the Battlefield about our wounded warriors: Lack Of Long-Term Care Can Lead To Tragic Ends For Wounded Veterans. We need to continue to support for our wounded veterans.
Please continue to support all of our troops.
Anyway, here’s a link to The Marshall Plan album I posted on Facebook: The Marshall Plan
Mission Accomplished!
What a weekend!
We made it to our hotel yesterday in great time. Dad and Bob beat us by about 5 minutes and as we pulled into the parking lot, our “truck driver” and his wife pulled in behind us.
Dad and Bob had a good ride. They said Sunday was the best day weather wise and the ride itself wasn’t too bad, but their directions were a little off, so they had to stop a few times to ask for directions. But, they made it to the hotel in one piece!
We checked into our rooms, relaxed a bit and got ready to go out to dinner. My cousin, who moved to MD a few months ago, met us at the hotel and we headed to dinner. We went to a great place called Fire Station 1 Restaurant & Brewing Co. Great food and great people. Catching up and getting to know people. It was a good time to sit down and relax with everyone knowing that everything was set, in place, ready to go and all we had left was to do the actual delivering of the Tastykakes and the gift cards.
Bike rider #1, truck driver, and bike rider #2.
Fire Station 1 Restaurant & Brewing Co. for dinner!
We headed back to the hotel and hung out. Tried to get a good night’s sleep so we could all be well rested for the big day… especially the bikers!
We got up and transferred all of the Tastykakes into our “truck driver’s” trailer. We heard back from the USO this morning as well. The USO was our back up plan. We needed something to do with all of the Tastykakes if Walter Reed didn’t approve our donation. The USO pulled through for us last minute and said they would be willing to accept our donation if need be and give them out to wounded warriors. However, since the donations we received exceeded our goal of 1,000 boxes of Tastykakes, we decided to easy WRNMMCB’s worries and not give them all 1,600 boxes of Tastykakes we received. The USO gave us directions and then we were off to WRNMMCB for our 1000 (aka 10am) scheduled delivery of almost 1,000 boxes of Tastykakes and about $7,500 worth of gift cards.
Our Tastykake trailer!
Wearing our "The Marshall Plan" t-shirts!
Me!
The cyclists: Dad and Bob! They're still in one piece!
Our "truck" drivers! Tom and Kari.
The moms!
Making sure people know who we are!
Our directions to Bethesda were a bit screwy… good thing we left early even though it was only about a 6 mile drive!
We were greeted by a nice sailor at the gate and got through security no problem, thanks to one of our WRNMMCB contacts, Brian, who put us on the base access list. Once we figured out where we were going everything went smoothly.
We pulled up to our destination where had a parking space reserved for us and we were greeted by Brian. It was nice to meet him since he was nice and did his best to help us even though we heard back from them Thursday evening! Brian came out with a small cart for us to load the Tastykakes on. We all looked at each other and were like, “Uhh… do you have anything bigger?” Haha, but we managed. We carried boxes and put some on the cart. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go in and meet any wounded warriors, but Brian brought out a gentleman with him to help us unload. He is a father of a Navy Corpsman who was seriously injured in Iraq and is now rehabbing at WRNMMCB. It was really nice to meet him and to have someone there to see what we were doing, someone we could talk to and someone to thank.
Our destination.
Our signage. Brian told me we were more than welcome to take our sign, but I told him pictures of it would be just fine, haha.
Unloading...
Unloading some more...
A wounded warrior's father, Brian, Tom, Dad, Bob and Mom unloading even more Tastykakes.
And more...
Bob chatting with a wounded warrior's father.
Once we were done at WRNMMCB we headed to Fort Myer, VA to drop off some more Tastykakes. We drove through DC and saw the National Cathedral and the damage to it from the earthquake. We also saw the Washington DC LSD Temple which reminded us of Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz (“SURRENDER DOROTHY”). Anyway, we got to Fort Myer. There security was a little more strict. We all needed to show photo ID and we had to get out of the car, open all the doors, pop the hood and the trunk, so they could inspect. We thought they were going to rip open all our boxes of Tastykakes, but they didn’t. Of course, we got through with no problems.
We found the community activity center and dropped off the rest of our Tastykakes. We wanted to meet Pauline, the Hospital Services Manager at the USO of Metropolitan DC, since she was great and very helpful for us last minute. We wanted to thank her for pulling through for us.
Security check.
Community Activity Center - Delivery location #2.
Unloading...
Unloading... they had a bigger trolley at Ft. Myer.
The empty trailer.. all that's left are the bikes.
Pauline's office building.
There was a cute chapel in Ft. Myer and right next to the chapel was an entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. There was a military funeral going on at the chapel, and we decided to walk through Arlington National Cemetery for a bit. It was a nice way to end our time in MD/DC/VA to pay our respects to some of many who’ve served our country. On our way out we saw the funeral procession head into the cemetery. It was very moving.
The Chapel.
Arlington National Cemetery.
Memorial Amphitheater.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
View of DC from Arlington.
Mom and Dad.
Air Force funeral for a Lt. Col.
We headed home after our time in Arlington… and came home to another case of Tastykakes that was delivered today from Tastykake HQ. Are you kidding me, Tastykake? Haha… It’s all good. We have a plan for it. Even though my boyfriend is no longer in Afghanistan, there are plenty of other military members deployed and I’m sure they’d enjoy Tastykakes too. So, we are going to ship the case (and any Tastykakes that were donated after the end date) to our deployed troops! We want to thank them too, even if it is in a small way.
Next on our list is to take care of any donations we’ve received after the end date and let all the media outlets who helped us tell our story and spread the word about our mission how everything went.
It was a great experience. We learned a lot. We were successful. We had a blast. I’m very happy we did this and I’m beyond thrilled that it was a success. We all are. We are so very grateful to the many men and women who have served and who are serving our country. We are happy that we could do something to show our appreciation even in a small way. It was the least we could do.
Will we do this again? It’s definitely a possibility. We’ve already been asked about it and have talked about it. We are keeping our options open for now. If we do it again it’ll probably be in about a year. What do you think? Should we do this again? Suggestions, ideas for next time around? We all enjoyed doing it and we’d love to do it again.
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated and supported us and our mission! We truly appreciate it.
And we’d like to say a huge thank you to the men and women who serve and have served our country! We cannot express our gratitude to you enough. Thank you.
Kait
Ready to Go!
Bob and dad made it safe and sound to Cockeysville, MD last night. They got to the hotel around 6:20pm. They left that morning around 9:30am. They said it was a long rough ride because of the winds. They were beat.
They left a little after 9 this morning and will be arriving in Bethesda this evening and so will we!
We’re leaving here in about 2 hours. It should take us a little over 3 hours to get to Bethesda. We are meeting dad and Bob at the hotel and the truck driver and his wife too. My cousin who moved to MD a few months ago is going to meet us there as well and we’re all going to head out to grab some dinner. We’ll probably just hang around the hotel the rest of the night.
Tomorrow is the big day! We’re heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda at 10am to deliver the Tastykakes and gift cards! Can’t wait! I’m pretty excited about it.
I don’t get the Express Times, but I heard that we made their Saturday paper! Awesome!
It’s been really great and quite moving to see the response we’ve been getting to this. I didn’t expect it. We’ve exceed our expectations. We’ve exceeded our goals. All thanks to you. So, thank you.
Kait
Halfway!
Bob and dad have made it halfway through today’s ride already. We heard from dad about 45 minutes ago, saying they were halfway and stopping for some food. Hopefully, it’s not too windy where they are. It’s been pretty windy here this afternoon. But, hey, they are halfway to Bethesda now! Awesome!
Mom went out to get some more gift cards today. And, fortunately, Mr. FedEx Man delivered more gift cards to our house this morning… just in time! I believe our total is 300 $25 gift cards! I’ve never seen so many gift cards in my life!
Gift cards!!!
We’re just about ready to go!
Thank you so much for all your donations! Thank you for spreading the word! Thank you for helping us show our gratitude and appreciation to our wounded troops! Thank you!
I’ll continue to keep you posted on our journey!
Kait
Day 1 Down, 2 to Go!
Dad called a little after 5PM. After needing for the tool kit to fix a clamp 2 hours into the ride and only one thunderstorm, he and Bob made it to destination #1, New Holland, PA, safe and sound! It was a long day and they’re a bit tired, but it’s one day down, 2 to go! And all for a good cause, right?
Heard from one of our contact people at Walter Reed-Bethesda. We figured out the logistics and got everything straightened out and ready to go. It was really pretty simple. So, I believe we are all set for our Monday delivery! Can’t wait!
Even though we loaded the truck yesterday, we were still collecting donations today. We have around 80 boxes of Tastykakes sitting in our front room right now and I know Team Capital Bank has been getting Tastykake donations all day. We definitely have well over 1000 boxes! Awesome!
We are going to pick up some more gift cards tomorrow and then we are pretty much set to travel down to Bethesda Sunday afternoon!
80 or so more boxes of Tastykakes!
Thank you for all the donations. (It’s still not to late if you’d like to contribute!)
Kait
Sweet Thanks for Troops: The Marshall Plan 