HIAWATHALAND COUNCIL NEWS AND MEETINGS

            UPCOMING EVENTS                    

HIAWATHALAND COUNCIL PROJECT
OPERATION MINNESOTA NICE 

Since August of 2005 pioneer volunteers have been collecting items for armed forces personnel service our country. We joined with other volunteers of OPERATION MINNESOTA NICE. We are committed to mail a box to our assigned soldier every month.  

Let me tell you a little more about OPERATION MINNESOTA NICE.  It began in 2004 when family members mailed a box every three or four weeks to their relative deployed to Iraq. On one of his telephone calls, he mentioned that he was sharing items with his comrades because they were not getting a mail. They asked their soldier for a list of name so they could adopt these soldiers too. Word spread among friends and relatives that help was needed. Items were collected and mailed to adopted soldiers. Now soldier’s names are nominated by other comrades in their units. The list is forwarded to OPERATION MINNESOTA NICE headquarters in Ramsey, Minnesota. Now there are up to 1,100
volunteers who have mailed 151,803 lbs.
The Hiawathaland Pioneer Council collects items at their annual picnic, holiday luncheon and quarterly meetings. A few of the items collected are beef jerky, individual cereal boxes, canned meat with pop tops, hard candy, chocolate in cooler months, instant coffee, shelf stable milk, tea bags, condiment packets, hygiene items, batteries, board and travel games, crossword puzzle books, decks of playing cards, miniature Christmas trees with decorations, etc. We have had four different soldiers and received correspondence from two. This past year from January to September we have mailed over 60 lbs.
The Council paid the postage of $ 92.50. About 25 volunteers contributed about 50 hours for this project.