OPERATION: MOMS Cookies Inc., NFP

SUPPORTING Our TROOPS...

Ray Phelps, MOMS Logistics Director along with Debbie of MOMS have fun with Jerry and his daughter taking a few pictures in the shop after packing up a "Box-of-Home"!

THANK YOU To the very generous Sponsors of this THIRD Annual Pig Roast along with the great Bands, risking the weather forecast and raising more than $2,600.00!  The generosity of time, hearts and giving is overwhelming and brings so very much to our Military Men and Women! ♥   A special thanks to Scott Henderson and "Dad" for the donation of the Pig along with their THIRD year of preparation of their awesome pulled pork and the never forgotten service of your Marine!  To Barbara Ray and your Team, our great appreciation for all your awesome work of heart and hands and continued support and caring of our U.S. Armed Forces! THANK YOU!

Head Coach, Matt Hines wanted his team to learn about what our Service Men and Women go through on a daily basis..."This experience really opened some eyes for us" said Coach.  "We took a tough loss the night before and to compare that with this is not even close.  This was a fantastic experience for us to be a part of and one which we will share." "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help OPERATION: MOMS as they help out those that protect us and our freedoms" said Coach.

MFCU...The Town of Cicero "Military Families of Cicero United" 4TH ANNUAL "Cookie DROP" Cookes in all shapes, sizes and kinds were collected from Schools to Organizations...THOUSANDS sent in our Christmas Shipment SUPPORTING OUR Troops!  Thank You Maureen & The Town of Cicero for all you give and all you do!  OUTSTANDING!
	Arrowhead Valley Chapter of Abate of Illinois "Platoon Chief $" With the generosity of proceeds from their annual Run, this Abate Chapter will provide many smiles for our Deployed Service Members for the Holidays!  Thank You Arrowhead Chapter!
BNSF Railway Company Platoon Chief The Chicago Division Diversity Council of BNSF Railway Company considers MOMS an Organization that is making a difference this Holiday Season!  MOMS is honored!  Thank You BNSF!
	LIONS CLUB Essex, Illinois Platoon Chief Our thanks and appreciation to the Lions of Essex for their Gift of Caring to forward Holiday Support to our Troops with proceeds from their Pancake Breakfast! Thank You Essex Lions!
Exelon Braidwood  Generating Station "Wish List Collection" From White Socks to Granola Bars, the gnerosity of the Employee's of Exelon Braidwood was overwhelming! THANK YOU!!!
	Steger Library w/MOMS Shirley Grassle "Wish List Collection" From Books, Games and Treats to Granola Bars, the gnerosity of the ENTIRE Community was Overwhelming! THANK YOU!!!

The ladies of St. Ambrose...cutting and sewing Camouflage Stockings for our Troops to be filled and carried to thousands!  What beautiful works of craftsmanship and heart!

St. Ambrose MOMS Cookie Bakers...hard at work baking thousands of cookies over the past year...sending their "treats" from the St. Ambrose kitchen with love and caring!

Kankakee's own 317th Engineeers left family and friends on a rainy, October day...arriving at Camp Liberty in Iraq on December 9th!  One of the first orders of business was to send their new mailing address to loved ones here at home.  As well, requests from 317th Troopers and their families began to arrive at MOMS this past Monday. When the balloon goes up at MOMS, it is ALL ELVES ON DECK!  Santa would be proud! ...Away to the boxes, they flew in a flash, cradling the goodies with love so none would be smashed.  They spoke not a word but to each task they were set, filling each box with care and respect.  Then placing the labels as regulations provide, they loaded their sacks and to the Post Office did ride.  They sprang to their sleigh and to the team gave a whistle, away they all flew like the down of a thistle.  More rapid than Eagles these Coursers they came, whistling and shouting, every troop's name.  "To the top of the porch!  To the top of the wall!  NOW, DASH AWAY, DASH AWAY, DASH AWAY ALL!  As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, they mount to the sky.  You could hear them exclaim, ere they drove out of sight, "MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and to all a good night!" Each 317th package was mailed today along with 80+ more requests!   God Bless and Thank You, Major!

Just a few months ago at the Kankakee Armory, the 317th readied, leaving family and friends, deploying to Iraq.  The buses filled...the Command checked their rosters...eyes blurred with tears of pride and respect...the hearts of many left with them!

Will County Executive Larry Walsh chats with MOMS Founder, Debbie Trippiedi.  Guest Speaker Walsh reached out to each Veteran with his personal words of caring support and appreciation for their Service.	The RIGHTEOUS HILLBILLIES performing their soon to be released work of art and heart to those who Serve...Past, Present and Future..."NOT ALONE" giving of their time, hearts and talent at the Event!

National Make A Difference Day ITEM COLLECTION FOR THE TROOPS!   October 24th is National "Make A Difference Day...Braidwood EXELON NUCLEAR gave their Employees an opportunity to participate also.  With their Outage in full swing, it was difficult (if not impossible) for the vast majority of their employees to participate.  They encouraged all to make a difference and an important one at that by donating items to "OPERATION: MOMS Cookies Inc., NFP" with a Table set up in the Service Building Lobby on Thursday, Oct. 22nd through Friday, October 30th.  They have made a HUGE difference in our deployed Service Members lives with their donations of Wet Wipes (Personal size) Men's White Socks Chapstick Granola/Snack Bars Chocolate Bars (Individually Wrapped Fun Size) Hard Candy  MOMS wishes to express their thanks and appreciation to EXELON Nuclear Braidwood, MOMS Volunteers Mary Ellen Papesh and Ray Phelps along with the many Employees and Trades for their Donation Gifts, outreach, caring and support of America's Military Men and Women!

Please connect to the following for the Article in Full: Seneca CCSD #170 http://www.sgs170.org With over 600 students and many military guests of honor in attendance, Seneca Grade School marked the 8th anniversary of 9/11. Students, staff and veterans contributed to the ceremony with memorized poems, oral readings and songs performed vocally and instrumentally. In addition SGS chose two organizations for its service projects for the National Day of Service and Remembrance, the Seneca Food Pantry and M.O.M.S., a group which provides care packages to those who serve overseas. The program concluded with a moving rifle salute to honor fallen veterans and to remember those who perished on September 11, 2001.  The students were honored and impressed to have the following guests this year: the American Legion Veterans, the Legion Auxillary, Food Pantry representatives, Martha Tendall and Lynn Hobbs, M.O.M.S. representative, Susan Warning and Mr. Mark Tendall, guest speaker for this Character Counts Opening Assembly. The involvement of community with the Seneca Grade School Character Counts Program is a continuing point of emphasis.

To our Friends at UPS Freight... Thank you for the opportunity to bring awareness of our Mission for our Military Men and Women.  It was an honor and a pleasure to present and be a part of your 2010 Giving Campaign at your Freight Terminals.  The outreach and compassion you extend from Management to Staff is one of professional caring which is beyond the normal in the world we know today!  Another thanks to you for the facilitation of our BIGGBY Michigan Shipment to our MOMS Warehouse at no cost!  The first time we have had a forklift to unload instead of our hands and the blessing of a UPS Freight Air Force reservist whom delivered!  From our hearts to yours, THANK YOU!

	THE LAKE NEWS.... OPERATION: MOMS Cookies Inc., members take a break from collecting care package items to have their picture taken with Marine Sergeant Blow. Pictured L to R: Pat Lents, Karen Duchoslav-Kentucky Liaison, Sgt. Blow, and Pat Osthoff. Look for Operation: MOMS tent at various events. OPERATION: MOMS Cookies Sending smiles to our Troops (Filed August 24, 2009) MOMS stands for Men/Women of Military Service and is a not for profit organization that provides a year round source of support, facilitating Programs to Military Service Members across the Globe and supporting all branches of U.S. Armed Forces. Did you know there are locations in our area where you may drop off donations to our military? The men and women that are so many miles from home, protecting our freedom truly appreciate and look forward to receiving letters, gifts, food and necessities from home. There are so many items the soldiers do without and it is such a treat to them when a care package arrives. The Fall Harvest begins in September followed by Christmas Jingles in November in preparation for shipping. Some of the outreach and Organization Missions include: “Box of Home” Care Package Program; “Taste of Home” Cookies for our Troops Program-sends thousands of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to soldiers overseas; “Phone Home” AT&T Global Military Phone Card Program [The precious minutes for a “Call Home”]; “Military Exchange” Gift Cards [Providing a Gift Card for AAFES Exhange Use & Items of Need]; “Service Learning” Program [Providing Card & Message Connections]; “Community Service” Program; “Helping Troops Help Others” [Assistance to our Service Members with needed and requested items]; “Battle Buddies” [providing beautiful Hand-Made Cards for the Troops, “Troop Night” Classes]; “Honor & Respect” [MOMS WELCOME HOME and SEND-OFF]. MOMS To learn more about this great program please visit the website at www.momscookies.org or you may E-mail to: director@momscookies.org MOMS Kentucky Liaison, Karen Duchoslav of Benton, can be reached at 270-354-6641. Karen wishes to extend a special thank you to Father Babu at St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Aurora for helping to make this OPERATION possible! Karen’s KENTUCKY “Wish List” Collection Locations: Marquita’s Restaurant on 68 in Jonathan Creek, Family Dollar in Murray, Nelson’s Pharmacy in Benton, State Farm in Benton, and St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Aurora. The Food Giant in Calvert City is a new drop-off site that has been added to the list of businesses that are involved.

THANK YOU INTERNATIONAL TRANSLOAD LOGISTICS, INC.! July, 2009   With the In-kind Donations of ITL Inc., our Service Members have benefited greatly with a "Taste of Home", not available in their area's of Deployment!  Our Thanks and Appreciation to Dave Fariss and Staff for your caring and support of our Military Men and Women!

DIGNITY "Wish List" Campaign for MOMS "Celebrate America" Shipment!  As the submission requests grow, Dignity has reached out for our Service Members with campaigns for needed items at MOMS and provided Sponsorships, supporting Shipment Funding!  Their outreach and work with Veterans, the Viet Nam Wall Replica and much more is awesome and little known!  Please feel free to contact Diane Nowak at 1-708-385-0132! THANK YOU for Remembering, Caring and Supporting our HEROS!

BIGGBY Coffee located in Michigan has again provided for our Service Members for the upcoming "Celebrate America" Shipment!  Our shipment will carry their Hot/Cold Tumblers, Playing Cards and Deluxe Poker Sets in a great case our Troops can utilize for many other needs! THANK YOU BIGGBY for your Ongoing caring and support!

The Team assembled by Al Sikirdji, Empress Director of Community Affairs, with Team Leader, Doug Gervaise, assisted MOMS with over 200 Volunteer Hours...  EMPRESS Employees working to "Give Back", donating their time and resources as they anxiously await their return to work!  Transporting product, warehousing, inventory, Service Member Care Pak assembly and painting were a few of the many tasks accomplished, assisting MOMS and supporting our Troops!   They were a blessing, providing greatly needed logistical preparation for MOMS upcoming shipments! AND...the EMPRESS brought in CASES of PLAYING CARDS and DICE, donating them for inclusion in our Upcoming "Celebrate America" Shipment! From ALL at MOMS, A BIG THANK YOU! YOU ARE AWESOME!

	AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS Post #294 of Morris, IL... From bringing in their "Truck Load" of Donations for Service Members, giving with their $250.00 generous donation to volunteering at MOMS Center, the Riders for our Military Service Members come in, work with knowledge, efficiency and pack-up for our Troops!  They are the "Hands and Hearts" for our Military Men and Women and MOMS!   MOMS Shipment/Staff Volunteers... Also pictured with ALR, are Nancy Rumbler [An "Army Mom] and Clarann Brown of Marseilles, along with Glenn Borvansky of VFW Marseilles Post #5506 and 1st Marine Division Association.  They readied and packed MOMS "Cookies" for Valentine's Day!  THANK YOU for hearts, hands and Cookies For Our Troops!

	Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana JOLIET REGIONAL SERVICE CENTER CLICK on PIC above to connect to the Girl Scouts Web Site! Girl Scouts and Cookies... Thanks and Appreciation... All Smiles with GS Cookies For Our Troops!

	Serving In OUR Communities FOR... "THOSE WHO SERVE"   To the left, you will find Members of the 4H Club of Wilmington, Illinois participating in an evening of Community Service at MOMS Center on Monday, January 19th...volunteering to support our Troops, the Men and Women of the U.S. Armed Forces!  This was a day Americans were answering President Obama's call to service!  More than 30 volunteers, ranging in age from 2 to 55+ years of age, worked in teams to sort, assemble requested items and tape boxes for MOMS upcoming shipment:  "Hearts For Our Hero's"!  The challenge of limited working space was met with smile, laughter and bumping shoulders!  The giving hands and hearts provided the equivalent of more than 100 hours of Service, providing a huge boost to meeting the challenge and goals of the upcoming shipment!

January, 2009... Below, Paige (Age 7), Taylor (Age 4 /12) and Colin (Age 3) are busy sorting and packing Beanie Babies to fill the requests by Illinois National Guard Service Members from Marseilles based in Afghanistan and Service Members in Iraq!  What wonderful work from "our Children" assisting our Service Members in their outreach to the youth of war torn countries! THANK YOU Paige, Taylor and Colin!  Jerry of the Aroma Park Boat Club, wearing his MOMS Hat, presents their generous Donation Collection Gift to Cathy Dorch of MOMS to assist with the Valentine's Day Shipment!   Thank You Boat Club Members for assisting us in sending "Hearts For Our Hero's" and shipment of Girl Scout Cookies! Thank You...   For all the gifts of the heart you give...We would like to extend our thanks to each of our friends for YOUR caring and support, sending respect and appreciation to our Men and Women in Uniform, along with the joy each finds in knowing they are NOT FORGOTTEN!  God Bless!       Sharing the Spirit for our Troops...   MOMS Cookie Network GROWS! Filling the requests of Thousands of our Service Members! At right, Angel's Restaurant in Cicero opens its doors to Cicero Teens as they bake for our Troops for their  TOWN OF CICERO'S 2nd Annual OPERATION: COOKIE DROP Christmas 2008 THANK YOU TOWN OF CICERO for your Caring and Support of our "Proudly Serving"!

A VERY BIG THANK YOU... To all who answered the Emergency Call with your overwhelming donations of Hygiene Products for MOMS Care Packs!  This overwhelming outreach and generosity to assist us in our work for our HERO'S leaves each of us IN AWE here at MOMS! You have provided many blessings for our Military Men and Women deployed thousands of miles from home!  Thank You! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MORRIS CORN FEST... Donations poured into our Booth! Thank You!

The Volunteers of MOMS...working to provide our Service Members with a "Box of Home"...  Thank you to the many Volunteers from coast to coast...the many hours spent by our Center and Committee Volunteers...to our Kentucky and Marseilles Liaisons, Karen Duchoslov and Christine Lawson...the Battle Buddies NEW MOMS Program of "Canine Support"... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Preparations have been underway all summer for... CHRISTMAS FOR OUR TROOPS!

John, Mary, CeCe...carefully choosing items...

Packing each box with heart and care!

"SILLY" MOMS Volunteer!

The "Cubs" of Coal City volunteer at MOMS...

preparing the "CANDY" Packs for their TROOPS! Thank You!

THANK YOU Girl Scout Trailways!

Our Care Packages are on the way!

The St. Rose KC's Helping Hand! THANK YOU!

Their Generous Donation will aid in shipping costs!