Saturday, August 06, 2005

Operation Flintstone

Virtually ever village we visit has the need for basic medicines and, more importantly, nutritional supplements. I've received many offers to help from many friends and family and have been trying to work out a way for people back home to make a real difference in people's lives.Little GirlSo, I talked it over with the "Doc" here at the PRT and have compiled a list of needs that either the Coalition or the Afghan government is not providing or is not providing in adequate supply. Many of the items might seem commonplace and simple from our perspective but based on our assessments and that of our medical personnel, these are the high-impact items that can be purchased over-the-counter and will improve the quality of life of the Afghan people that I share a home with. I've denoted the more important items with an asterisk ("*").

Multi-Vitamins*
-Children's Chewable or Liquid
-Pills
Liquid Tylenol/Motrin*
Diaper Rash Ointment
Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Iodine
Antacids
Cotton Balls
Antibiotic and Analgesic Creams
Tylenol
Anti-Bacterial soap
Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Flouride Rinse* (sample sizes prefered)
Insect Repelent* (prevents malaria, a big killer here)
Bandaids
Cotton Swabs/Cotton Balls*
Pool Testing Kits* (to test chlorine levels in water)

Generics are obviously fine. One request is that like items be packaged together for easy identification and sort. In other words, it would be optimal to pick on thing on the list to send and then clearly mark the box as to its contents. Address boxes to:

MEDICAL SUPPLIES
Log. Cell South
PRT (Jalalabad) or (J-Bad)
APO AE, 09354

Thank you all for your interest in helping me help the people of Afghanistan and thank you in advance for your help.

16 Comments:

Lorie said...

YES--this is what I've been waiting for! A specific list of needs that we can fill. We are on it! Brace for the deluge!!

08 August, 2005 16:24  
kelseyk said...

I suggest we follow the same procedure as the care packages. If you want to focus on one item (say vitamins) then leave a comment saying that's been covered. That way at least we'll know that some of everything is on its way there!

11 August, 2005 09:06  
fortunateSon said...

Yes, I'll add to that. If you send something, please leave a comment so that everyone doesn't send the same thing and so that we know what and how much to expect.

11 August, 2005 22:52  
dave said...

Steve..I am sending a few cases of Tylenol and St Joseph Aspirin Low Strength..I have asked Drug reps from work to help..You are doing an incredible job!

12 August, 2005 07:50  
dave said...

I just got another 7 cases from reps! Sudafed,Benadryl, Zantac (antacid). I hope to receive more and I will let you know.

12 August, 2005 09:10  
Lorie said...

I just got an e-mail from a colleague who has gotten a hold of some discontinued antibacterial soap-- nothing wrong with it but the dispensers were changed and these refills no longer fit! How cool! Will be sending them next week sometime.

12 August, 2005 12:18  
fortunateSon said...

This is amazing! I'm starting to wonder if there might end up being a need to consolidate before shipping over to save shipping costs. Does anyone know what might be the best way to send a large shipment overseas? I don't want people to not feel like they can participate because it the shipping is cost-prohibitive.

Would anyone be able to look into that if the need arises?

13 August, 2005 01:19  
kelseyk said...

Claudia and I have been looking into this already for the large amount of school supply stuff that we still have. We have been in touch with the Family Readiness officer at Steve's unit and hope to have this resolved soon.

13 August, 2005 07:21  
Ann Koziol said...

Steven - 9 boxes of non-medical stuff is coming your way (Mailed today 8/19, this is from your list you supplied for your care package contest)

I waited until now to ship so that the packages from the contest would get to you. The stuff I have mailed comes from Noblestar employees as well as Harris County employees. As soon as I sent out an email and Larry forwarded it, the donations started coming in.

Everyone is quite excited about helping. In a few of the packages I sent are the McDonald toys I already talked to you about. This woman at Harris County has been collecting for years. She felt this was a good cause so she graciously donated them. I was looking through them and was quite surprised at the amount.

This is not the end. I will send another email out for donations soon.

Everyone wanted me to do this every two to three months. So I will as long as I have people who want to donate.

19 August, 2005 12:09  
fortunateSon said...

The first Op Flintstone carepackage arrived today! I want to say thank you to Leslie W. for all the stuff! Our "Doc" here was very touched and you just might be getting a nice thank you letter from our commander.

Does anyone else know of anything on its way or of someone planning to send something? Its been a couple weeks since I've heard from anyone on this.

26 August, 2005 08:20  
fortunateSon said...

Dave, I also ment to say thank you to you as well. I haven't received it yet, but I truly appreciate your help and I know the people here do as well. If you can send me an email at steve@fortunateson.org so I can put you on the mailing list.

26 August, 2005 08:23  
Ann koziol said...

Steven/All - I am working on getting toothbrushes, toothpaste and Flouride. I have contacted several dentist and have contacted some their reps.

I will let you know.

28 August, 2005 04:17  
fortunateSon said...

Ann,

Thank you so much. That's a big item here. We'll definitely use all you are able to send.

28 August, 2005 09:50  
kelseyk said...

I went to CVS today, and found toothbrushes for 10 cents a piece. The limit was supposed to be 10, but when I told the girl what it was for she ttok the time time to ring them up 10 at a time so I could get the discount. I bought 100-that should be enough to fill a box! Maybe Ann will have better luck with the toothpaste ;)

29 August, 2005 11:35  
CJK said...

Okay! For those up for the challenge of sending educational/medical supplies in quantity, I have posted details on the family link. I am more than happy to coordinate the effort.
Let's see what we can do!

11 October, 2005 11:10  
TimH said...

5 gallons of Acetaminophen Elixir (equivalent to roughly 4,500 1 teaspoon doses of Children's Tylenol) on the way to you.

Gallon jugs are the most cost-effective - I hope that it's a format that you can work with easily.

Bless you for the good work that you're doing.

14 October, 2005 18:08  

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