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Wire Service
"Sites Support U.S. TroopsI recently received a letter to the editor from state Rep. John Boccieri, D-61st, an Air Force Reserve captain serving in the Middle East. Boccieri wanted to emphasize the enormous differences between elections in Ohio and those recently held in Iraq, where voters braved "life and death to vote for the new direction of their country," he wrote.Boccieri's letter prompted me to look for ways we who are fortunate to have solid roofs over our heads and family members close by can help lift the spirits of our soldiers in foreign lands.Much of what I'm about to pass on I admit to "stealing" from The Kim Komando Show because she's verified that the sites are legitimate -- but I'm quite sure the radio talk show host and syndicated newspaper columnist won't mind a bit. I also agree with a couple of cautions she offers: Always ascertain first what kinds of donations an organization accepts. Then, contact the organization to make sure donations still are being accepted.Prepaid phone cards are in big demand. Two Web sites -- Operation Uplink and The Military Exchange can help. The latter sells prepaid cards specially formulated for military use (commercial prepaid cards sold by U.S. companies are usually designed for use within the continental United States and may not offer the best value for overseas use). Operation Uplink, operated by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, provides military personnel and hospitalized veterans with free phone cards using contributions. To date, the organization has distributed more than four million prepaid cards representing more than 60 million minutes of phone time.Two smaller nonprofit organizations accept donations online via credit card or PayPal. Since 2002, Give2theTroops Inc. has sent care packages and letters to U.S. troops. The organization is funded by contributions and has an all-volunteer staff; all donations are tax-deductible.Similarly, Operation Interdependence, enables you to make a contribution or get information on sending needed items such as flashlights, music CDs and playing cards.You also may want to donate frequent-flier miles to soldiers. Since Operation Hero Miles became law in October, more than 540 million miles of free flights have been contributed. Helping U.S. troops doesn't necessarily mean contributing goods or money; in fact, a few lines from somebody "back home" can go a long way to boost morale. Any Soldier Inc. posts names and addresses of soldiers as well as information on what to send. Similarly, Soldiers' Angels lets you "adopt" a service man or woman with whom to correspond."