Soldiers’ Angels Ship 5,000th Backpack To Help Wounded Soldiers In Overseas Hospital

Donald MacKay
Executive Director/Soldiers’ Angels
Email: info@soldiersangels.org
Phone: (615) 676-0239

Carmel, CA, (Open Release) – Soldiers’ Angels, a military support organization founded by Patti Patton-Bader in 2003 and operated by an all volunteer force of over 60,000 members, has shipped their 5,000th transitional backpack to a hospital in Germany where wounded troops from the Middle Eastern War on Terror are treated, often before returning stateside for further medical assistance.

The idea for the backpack was developed because an injured soldier is rarely reunited with his or her personal belongings as they are rushed first into a Combat Support Hospital for initial treatment and then, if warranted, on to Germany for more intense medical care. Often a wounded soldier arrives in Germany in the same uniform in which they were wounded. Therefore, in March 2004, Soldiers’ Angels began preparing and sending these backpacks to the hospital in Germany and to the Combat Support Hospitals so that the soldiers would have these personal items to carry them over until they could receive a more permanent arrangement. The first 100 backpacks were made possible by the sponsorship of the 1955 Graduating Class of West Point (also the class of Patti’s father), which again co-sponsored the second 100 backpacks along with the West Point Graduating Classes of 1948 and 1959.

The backpacks contain hygiene items such as toothbrush & toothpaste, hair comb, shampoo, soap, deodorant, lotion, and powder. Clothing is included in the form of new underwear and a leisure shirt and pants. A phone card is in the backpack so the soldier can call his or her family. Also included is a handmade Blanket of Hope, a blanket that has been made by one of the Soldiers’ Angels volunteers and is sent with a note of well wishes for the soldier who receives the blanket.

The backpacks and their contents are donated directly by the volunteers, through group fundraisers and by the generosity of outside donors. If you would like to donate a backpack to a wounded soldier at the low cost of only $40, please check for details:
website at www.soldiersangels.org
phone (615) 676-0239
email info@soldiersangels.org