| Minnesota soldier has an angel in Princeton girl |
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By Lindsy Arrowood This time of year most 10-year-old girls are thinking about the new laptop they want for Christmas or the new cell phone they’re hoping to get from their parents. Kaylee Ottmon is not. This year for Christmas she wants her soldier to come home safely from Iraq. Her soldier is not her father, uncle, brother or even someone she knows. She has never met him but she writes to him every week and sends packages each month. Kaylee is involved in an organization called Soldiers’ Angels. Soldiers’ Angels is a nonprofit organization led by volunteers that strives to provide comfort to the men and women serving in the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and the families of those serving. The program, which began with one mother sending a few extra care packages to her son’s unit, has now grown into a large nationwide phenomena that supports tens of thousands of Americans serving in the military and stationed around the world. Kaylee first became involved in the Soldiers’ Angels program after hearing Jessica Scheu, Miss Teen Minnesota International 2009, speak about her involvement with the program at the Miss Teen Minnesota pageant last March. “She talked about how good it made her feel to be able to help the country by sending mail to lonely soldiers and I thought, I could do that. I like to write,” Kaylee said. She adopted her soldier, Matt, that April. Any angel that adopts a soldier commits themselves to sending at least one letter a week and at least one care package a month. “The hardest part was trying to think of what to write.” At first Kaylee thought that since Matt was over in Iraq he wouldn’t be very interested in her home schooling work or her new puppy since it wasn’t as exciting as war. But she didn’t have anything else to write about. She filled letter after letter with details about her family, her schoolwork, her pets and anything else she could think of. “I think she even wrote one letter about her chores,” her mother Sheryl Ottmon said laughing, “every detail, even what kind of soap we used in the dishwasher.” She received her first letter from Matt two months later. “It was so exciting. It was getting hard to keep writing each week when I didn’t even know if he was reading the letters.” Matt’s letters kept coming, sometimes three in a week and sometimes with a month or two between them. And his letters were filled with the same things she wrote about in hers. He wrote about his family in southern Minnesota, his favorite books, his pets and about his chores in Iraq. “We both named our dogs Rudy,” Kaylee says. “How cool is that? And we both hate doing the dishes but like the color orange!” Ottmon thinks the organization has been wonderful for her daughter to be involved with. Instead of just writing the one letter a week, Kaylee writes almost daily. Her care packages have also grown and she always tries to send more so Matt can share with others in his unit. She sent a special one for Christmas filled with watermelon Jolly Ranchers because “they’re his favorite.” “She’s really grown through this, Ottmon said. “Last year she wanted a Bratz doll for Christmas; this year she wants to donate all her toys and spend her allowance to send more hero packages (care packages for not yet adopted soldiers). She’s even got me involved in making blankets.” Ottmon, who has been crocheting for years, taught Kaylee so they could make Blankets of Gratitude. Blankets of Gratitude is another one of the Soldiers’ Angels projects that collects handmade lap blankets for veterans that have to spend time in the VA hospitals. Together the Ottmons have made four Blankets of Gratitude. Matt comes back to the United States in January and Kaylee is hoping that she’ll get to meet him. But even if she doesn’t, she’s happy that she’s been able to encourage him with her letters. “I’m going to adopt another soldier once Matt gets back and doesn’t need them anymore,” she said. Besides adopting a soldier and making blankets, Soldiers’ Angels has many other projects for people to volunteer with. They have teams that make encouraging cards to send to soldiers and their families, bake homemade goodies for those who have been deployed and even provide first response backpacks as well as many others. Each Angel project is dedicated to helping boost soldiers’ moral and to let them know how much they are appreciated. Comments (4)
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written by Jessica Scheu , December 25, 2009 Hello this is Jessica Scheu! Miss Teen MN International 2009! I just want to say how proud I am of you Kaylee! You are a wonderful girl and I'm so happy you became involved and made a new buddie!! :) You are making his stay overseas so much better and it is so awesome how much you guys have in common. I am so glad I met you and that you are making a difference in this world one soldier at a time! Hope you are doing well! "May no Soldier go unloved!" LOVE Jessica Scheu Miss Teen MN International 2009 ...
written by Milaca Parent , December 12, 2009 I think this is the greatest thing...I love that a child is getting involved & pushing the adult to be involved as well. This week several of us from our work sent cookies over seas to one of the co-workers sons units. My 2 daughters (5 & 8) drew pictures to send to them as well. Way to go Kaylee! You are an inspiration to us all! ...
written by vicky , December 11, 2009 God Bless her, and her family!! If only we had more caring people in this world today. She is one special person!! Thank you! ...
written by Mrs , December 11, 2009 How amazing is this child! This is what life and being a Christian is all about...giving of yourself unselfishly. May God bless both families. This is the time of year when we should be remembering what Jesus would want us to do to celebrate the dates we have set aside to celebrate His birth. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way Jesus' birthday is being celebrated, writing letters filled with love and hope to soldiers away from home, who are probably afraid and loney during this time is a priceless gift to receive. A 10 year old child is setting a very fine example for us adults to follow. Write comment
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