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WASHINGTON D.C. (April 23, 2008) - In celebration of Military
Appreciation Month, more than 100 festival queens will gather in
Opelousas, La., on May 10 for "Operation Rhinestone."
The ladies, ages 7 to 23, will record messages of support for a
DVD the Thank You Foundation will send to troops serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan throughout May. In addition to their verbal
messages, each festival queen will write a note of support to be
included with the discs.
"We are very excited to be a part of this project," said John
Guinn, president and founder of The Thank You Foundation. "These
girls spend so much of their own money and time to serve their
communities, and now they are going above and beyond to help say
'Thank you' to those who have given so much for our freedom."
The foundation, which expresses appreciation and gratitude for
those who serve or have served in the military, found inspiration
for Operation Rhinestone in someone just barely old enough to
participate in a pageant herself.
Morgan Landry, 7, grew up in a military family and wanted to do
something special for Louisiana soldiers.
Her parents, Miranda and Michael Landry Sr., wanted to encourage
her and began searching for help. Their quest led them to The Thank
You Foundation, which orchestrated a similar project with
professional athletes in Cincinnati last year. It also worked with
Pennsylvania Online Learners to produce and send a special
multimedia presentation to troops serving overseas earlier this
year.
"I am so touched and proud of this young girl," said Robin
Abshire, director of Louisiana's Spice and Music Festival. "She
realizes that her daddy spent much of her life away and has learned
he did it not only for us to be free and safe but to keep his baby
girls free and safe.
"Our soldiers have given so much for total strangers and as we
all know, here in Louisiana, we find just about anything to
celebrate with our festivals, and our soldiers are missing out,"
Abshire added. "This is Morgan's way of sending our festivals to
our soldiers."
Once the DVDs are produced, volunteers from the Thank You
Foundation will pack them into care packages along with items such
as soap, toothpaste and food. Each box also will include the cards
signed by the festival queens.
The Thank You Foundation, a supporter of the Defense
Department's "America Supports You" program, has sent more than
25,000 cards signed by school children to troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan and to veterans in the states.
America Supports You connects citizens and companies with
servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals,
groups and organizations that are helping support the troops,
visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America
Supports You directly connects military members to the support of
the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their
quest to find meaningful ways to support the military
community.
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