It took some time for us to receive proper clearance from military authorities, but we're proud to share the results of our July partnership with T-Mobile:

Thanks to T-Mobile and the dozens of volunteers who assembled care packages with us last July, soldiers deployed across seven different countries from the 101st Signal Brigade, New York National Guard, received 300+ care packages to let them know those of us back home are thinking of them as they serve our nation abroad.

Right: U.S. Army National Guard Spc. Yaileny Gonzalez of Alpha Company, 101st Signal Battalion, New York National Guard, 160th Signal Brigade, receives goodies and personal-care items, Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

Last July, more than 80 volunteers from NYC Veterans Alliance, Blue Star Families, and military family members who assembled the packages during the Military Monday event at T-Mobile’s flagship store in Times Square, Manhattan.

During the event, parents lined up with their kids to pick up bright pink T-Mobile boxes and fill them with Girl Scout cookies, crackers, coffee, hard candy, and handwritten notes to personally thank a soldier for their service. The participants enthusiastically assembled boxes in stacks over five feet high, repeatedly getting back in the line to do it again while deejay and veteran Doc Schupp spun tunes. Participants enjoyed snacks and drinks, and were also placed in a drawing to win baseball tickets, new phones, and chargers.

Katie Jones, one of our volunteers, said this of the event: "Our troops need to know we support them. I'm so glad I can do something to show how much New Yorkers care about the men and women who are serving to protect us. Thank you T-Mobile and NYC Veterans Alliance!"

In the weeks that followed, T-Mobile and NYC Veterans Alliance staffers trucked the packages to the post office with key support from NY National Guard Family Readiness Group and sent the boxes on their way to more than 20 forward-deployed locations with soldiers supporting Operations Inherent Resolve, Freedom’s Sentinel, and Spartan Shield.

NYC Veterans Alliance thanks T-Mobile and Girl Scouts for generously donating care package items. We also give special thanks to Marie Roker-Jones, Betty Eissfeld, Laraine Figliuolo, Lilly Tran, Eric Masciarelli, Blue Star Families, Girl Scouts, and all of our wonderful volunteers for their dedication, coordination, and generosity in making this act of service a success.

We wish all of our deployed military members a safe tour. We support you, we honor your work and your mission, and we'll be glad to see you return safely home. We also honor your families who are waiting on your safe return, too. 

Below: U.S. Army National Guard soldiers of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, the 101st Signal Battalion, New York National Guard, 160th Signal Brigade at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, display received boxes packed by volunteers at the T-Mobile flagship store in Times Square.