To all of my troop support brothers...

[macms]

I believe the time has come to re-evalute our troop support program because many of us are simply not able to provide the same level of donations as we once did. We are confronted with an uncertain future, an unstable economy and fear about continued employment. And these are real concerns and they already have impacted our troop support program.

Were it possible I know that we would provide every man and woman in the sandbox with a daily cigar, but we can't. The number of shipments and cigar donations will become less as our personal situations change. It's not fair to you when I or others constantly ask for your support when you are faced with personal struggles on the home front.

This is what I intend to do in the future. I will no longer ask you for donations. I will continue to ship your donations as I receive them, but I understand as I'm sure the Pale Horse men do as well, that our capabilities have changed. The Pale Horse men will need to decide what they can do based upon our level of donations.

I will make one post a week and list those I received donations from that week. I'm simply going to say that the following men have donated this week and not mention the number of cigars or post pics. Each and every one of your cigars is needed and appreciated. We do these things because we choose to and our pleasure does not come from the public "He's a hell of a guy...", it comes from seeing the pics of strangers appreciating our sacrifice.

Men, if you can donate a fiver every month or so please know that your cigars are very important to someone. If just half of the brothers on this board did this that would be a hell of a lot of smiles somewhere.

Thanks for reading men.

[chippewastud79]

Fred, thanks again to you and the rest of the troop supporters for doing what you do

Originally Posted by macms

Men/women, if you can donate a fiver every month or so please know that your cigars are very important to someone. If just half of the brothers/sisters on this board did this that would be a hell of a lot of smiles somewhere.

This is what that whole thing boiled down to for me. You don't always have to send cigars, sometimes its candy, beef jerky, little things that our troops will appreciate and we sometimes take for granted.

[Jbailey]

I just want to say that you have done an amazing job so far with this Fred. Also would like to thank David, David and Tony for all of their work too.

I will try to get another box out when I return to MI.

[stitch]

You've done the Greatest of jobs here Fred,
Me, Even though our financial situation changed, I'll continue to twist arms and brow beat people at all the gun shows and such that I do
And I'll continue to ship what I can when I can, Which has recently been a lot less than I used to.
Thank you for all that you do Fred
Your one of the best!

[Whee]

I hope you keep asking. I would hate to see donations lag further by being out of sight, out of mind. Good things come to those who ask.

Fred,

I'm a little baffled by your post. I have found you to be a straight forward, tell it like it is kind of guy and I feel backing down your presence is a mistake. If you need to do it for personal reasons, by all means that is understandable and no one could find fault in that.

BUT I feel to back down your efforts simply because others are not contributing, does a disservice to those who are. I fear that the "out of sight out of mind" mentality may lessen the donations even further. Reading posts about donations, fund raisers and troop support is no different than any other post. If I don't drink coffee I don't read the coffee threads. Same for certain cigars, I don't smoke certain cigars so when I see a post about them I just skip them. Same can be said for troop support threads, if someone doesn't want to read them, they can skip them.

God Bless and thanks for all that you do
Chuck

[Whee]

I hope that this decision was not reached because of "pressure" to tone it down. I agree with ChasDen..say it loud and proud, Fred.

Because donations are down, does not mean we don't care, or we don;t want to keep abreast of the donations and troops. It's motivational.

I'm as guilty as the next guy by not donating more, but I still read the threads and am glad that others here do, what some of us can not.

[macms]

Originally Posted by illinoishoosier

...I hope that this decision was not reached because of "pressure" to tone it down.

There has never been pressure from anyone to tone anything down. And if there were I would bet that you would know.

Originally Posted by ChasDen

...BUT I feel to back down your efforts simply because others are not contributing, does a disservice to those who are. I fear that the "out of sight out of mind" mentality may lessen the donations even further.

This is a great counter point and one I obviously did not consider. Let me ponder this and thanks for a very helpful post.

Originally Posted by macms

I believe the time has come to re-evalute our troop support program because many of us are simply not able to provide the same level of donations as we once did. We are confronted with an uncertain future, an unstable economy and fear about continued employment. And these are real concerns and they already have impacted our troop support program.

Were it possible I know that we would provide every man and woman in the sandbox with a daily cigar, but we can't. The number of shipments and cigar donations will become less as our personal situations change. It's not fair to you when I or others constantly ask for your support when you are faced with personal struggles on the home front.

This is what I intend to do in the future. I will no longer ask you for donations. I will continue to ship your donations as I receive them, but I understand as I'm sure the Pale Horse men do as well, that our capabilities have changed. The Pale Horse men will need to decide what they can do based upon our level of donations.

I will make one post a week and list those I received donations from that week. I'm simply going to say that the following men have donated this week and not mention the number of cigars or post pics. Each and every one of your cigars is needed and appreciated. We do these things because we choose to and our pleasure does not come from the public "He's a hell of a guy...", it comes from seeing the pics of strangers appreciating our sacrifice.

Men, if you can donate a fiver every month or so please know that your cigars are very important to someone. If just half of the brothers on this board did this that would be a hell of a lot of smiles somewhere.

Thanks for reading men.

I think Fred doesn't want to become a "haunt" about asking for cigars in these difficult times.

Just another example of what this man is made of.

I will continue to do what I can when I can.

God bless you for being you Fred.

Originally Posted by ahc4353

I think Fred doesn't want to become a "haunt" about asking for cigars in these difficult times.

Understood, and appreciated, but in my opinion those who would be offended are not the ones who would contribute in the first place. Giving requires an open heart, a heart that understands. Even in the roughest of times, how can one with a open heart find fault in those trying to help others???

I still believe those who feel "bothered" by any of this could simply choose not the read it. Its not like a pop up window they have to read before the post or read anything else.

Chuck

Originally Posted by ChasDen

Understood, and appreciated, but in my opinion those who would be offended are not the ones who would contribute in the first place. Giving requires an open heart, a heart that understands. Even in the roughest of times, how can one with a open heart find fault in those trying to help others???

I still believe those who feel "bothered" by any of this could simply choose not the read it. Its not like a pop up window they have to read before the post or read anything else.

Chuck

You make a great point Chuck.

Like I said, I'm in.

[bobarian]

Fred, The hundreds/thousands of soldiers your(and the other coordinator's) efforts have touched and the hundreds here and at CS who have had the pleasure of contributing all salute.

I assume it can be frustrating for you to make a call and not get a huge response, but please know that even if we cant immediately respond, we hear your call. It reminds us that others are still in need and brings things in to focus for us. Before I joined CS, I often wondered silently what could be done to help our servicemen. But I never acted until seeing your call. While it may be time to reevaluate, please dont stop asking. As new people come to the board, they may wonder, as did I, what they can do to bring a smile to a lonely soldier.

[DPD6030]

I will continue to do my part as much as I can.

[newcigarz]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Fred, thanks again to you and the rest of the troop supporters for doing what you do

Ditto

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

This is what that whole thing boiled down to for me. You don't always have to send cigars, sometimes its candy, beef jerky, little things that our troops will appreciate and we sometimes take for granted.

This is a great point. When you are at Walmart or the grocery store, try to put one extra item in your cart. every little bit helps and when its put altogether its pretty impressive.

[DPD6030]

Or instead of random bombing someone why not bomb Fred or Tony and support the troops.

[Sailchaser]

[quote=DPD6030;299291]Or instead of random bombing someone why not bomb Fred or Tony and support the troops. [/QUOTE

Andrew , you hit that one right on the head , and I will support as I can

[hotreds]

Originally Posted by bobarian

Fred, The hundreds/thousands of soldiers your(and the other coordinator's) efforts have touched and the hundreds here and at CS who have had the pleasure of contributing all salute.

I assume it can be frustrating for you to make a call and not get a huge response, but please know that even if we cant immediately respond, we hear your call. It reminds us that others are still in need and brings things in to focus for us. Before I joined CS, I often wondered silently what could be done to help our servicemen. But I never acted until seeing your call. While it may be time to reevaluate, please dont stop asking. As new people come to the board, they may wonder, as did I, what they can do to bring a smile to a lonely soldier.

Put as well as could be! I will continue to try and send stuff to you and Tony!

[Whee]

Originally Posted by DPD6030

Or instead of random bombing someone why not bomb Fred or Tony and support the troops.

[macms]

Thanks for the feedback. You have caused me to re-think some of my decisions.