Seminole, FL (March 1, 2018) – On February 26, 2018, the commander of the Seminole VFW Post #9272, Bill Fagerquist presented a $500 check to Pinellas County sixth grader Graci Tubbs for her nonprofit Operation: Military Matters at her fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse St. Pete.
Operation: Military Matters is a 501 (c)(3) and for the past two years 12-year-old Tubbs has been sending care packages to the military serving overseas. “I want the men and women to know how much people back home care about them and support them,” said Tubbs.
The items in the care packages are mainly donations collected from the community. They include: handwritten cards, toiletry items, shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, snacks, hard candy, wipes, games, instant coffee, creamer, romen noodles, beef jerky, tuna or salmon packs, tea bags, gallon zip lock bags, hand lotion, trail mix, socks.
Since 2016, more than 300 care packages have been sent all over the world. Each package costs $17.35 to ship, so Tubbs has been raising funds through donations, speaking to civic organizations and having fundraisers.
In the next few weeks Tubbs plans on packing several hundred care packages to send to the men and women from the army reserves unit out of Orlando, who are part of the 143d Sustainment Command. Tubbs was recently invited to speak to them before they were deployed.
For more information go to Operation: Military Matters Facebook page www.Facebook.com/OperationMilitaryMatters or the Go Fund Me Page at www.GoFundMe.com/MilitaryMatters.