How to get started with the project?

[Tim Dennis]

Hi All,

I was referred over to Sawmill Creek to get some info on the FP project. I've sent some emails and a PM but I'm not getting any response.

Does anyone know who I can contact to get involved? I've sent some posts with addresses to order kits but I'm hesitant to do so without being able to get replies to emails, etc.

Thanks in advance for any info you can share with me.

Tim

[Mike Berndt]

I also would like to help in the Freedom pen project for the last third of the year with my 8th graders. They love to turn pens and will get a great feeling from helping out the members of the military. I am starting with Penn State Industries and am turning the 10 free pens first then i will be looking for more pens to turn. Please advise on who to contact and order pen kits from.

Mike Berndt

[Jackie Outten]

You can contact me about ordering pen kits and getting information about the project. We would love to get as many people involved as possible.

Tim, I think I got a private message from you yesterday but I was too tired to answer it last night and I just got home from a band concert tonight. We are trying to get the Freedom Pens Project website updated. I just need to get access to it. Hopefully we will get the site updated and be able to keep it updated in the very near future. Until then, this is the place to get information.

I can order pen kits for you for $1.25 each. These are some new pen kits that our distributor has started supplying us with so I don't really have a track record for these new kits. Shipping is $5 for 10 to 40 kits and $9 for 50 to 100 kits. We ask that you include a note with each pen including the email address of the person who made the pen so that the soldiers have a way of contacting you and thanking you for their pens. You can put the pens in tubes, cases, etc. or you can put them in baggies which is the way most of us pack them. Send the completed pens to Freedom Pens Project, 8770 Little England Road, Hayes, VA 23072. The pens are shipped to chaplains in Iraq and Afghanistan for distribution to the troops.

Please keep in mind that Freedom Pens is a nonprofit organization and we use every penny to buy pen kits and ship pens. Donations are down right now so we can't offer very many free kits. Hopefully donations will pick up soon and we will be able to continue supply pen turners and schools who cannot afford to buy the kits some free kits. Anyone who would like to donate can send check to the address listed above or paypal funds to sales@freedompens.org. Of course, these donations will be acknowledged and are tax deductible.

Let me know if you need more information.

Jackie Outten

[Tim Dennis]

Thanks Jackie, I appreciate the info. To order kits can I send funds and a request to the sales email address?

Tim

[Mike Berndt]

Hi jackie,
i want 50 pen kits that I will have my student manufacture over the next few months. How should I proceed to pay for these?? I am happy to buy them for that price and if you can throw in any extra freebies, they will be turned and hopely make a few armed services members happy. How is the letter to be sent?? Folded and placed in the baggies??I want to do this to help out the troops and am looking forward to tackle this task with my 8th grade students.

Thanks
Mike B.

[Jackie Outten]

You can place your order by going to www.paypal.com and sending the funds to sales@freedompens.org or you can send a check to Freedom Pens Project, 8770 Little England Road, Hayes, VA 23072.

Jackie

[Tim Dennis]

You can place your order by going to www.paypal.com (http://www.paypal.com) and sending the funds to sales@freedompens.org or you can send a check to Freedom Pens Project, 8770 Little England Road, Hayes, VA 23072.

Jackie

Thanks - Payment sent via PayPal!

[Charles Bishop]

Mike B.
Please check your private messages.

Regards,

Charles Bishop

[Mike Berndt]

Hi jackie,
I have made payment for 40 pens to start and we will be building from that number base. I am hoping to turn at least 200 pens buy the end of the year to ship over to the troops!!! It is a very worthy cause and we support them defending us!!!!

Mike Berndt

[Mike Berndt]

Hi Jackie,
Can you give me an estimate as to when the pen kit order will arrive in Rhode Island? I want to get geared up so my students are ready to go once the kits arrive.

Thanks
Mike Berndt

[Mike Berndt]

Hi Charles,
I got the wood from the shrimp boat and cut it into pen blanks. Students are turning the soldier's pens from these boat blanks. I have taken a picture of the final results to let you have a sneak peak. I need your address because I would like to send you a pen for your donation and shipping the blanks to me.

Thanks again.

Mike Berndt

[Charles Bishop]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the update. It's great to hear that the project is underway. That is a great looking pen and I think any recipient in the war zone will be proud to own one.

I will contact you privately re: address.

Regards,

Charles Bishop

[Mike Berndt]

Hi Michael,
My goal is to make at least 100 pens before the end of the school year. My students love doing this project and are doing a nice job so far. They are making one pen each for the FP project and then are making one for themselves because they get hooked doing the soldier's pen. thanks for checking out our site!!!

[Mike Berndt]

Hello SMCreekers,
Here is what my students have completed thus far in our freedom pen project. Enjoy the pics!!!!

http://media3.dropshots.com/photos/171948/20080502/154743.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)
http://media3.dropshots.com/photos/171948/20080502/154806.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)
http://media4.dropshots.com/photos/171948/20080502/154822.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)
http://media5.dropshots.com/photos/171948/20080502/154835.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)
http://media5.dropshots.com/photos/171948/20080502/154847.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)

[Keith Outten]

I would like to thank each of you for participating in the Freedom Pens Project. Donating your time means a lot to those who receive Freedom Pens, a gift from home becomes precious when you far from your loved ones.

As you know our Freedom Pens Project Coordinator Ken Salisbury passed away May 1st. Ken was a Korean War combat Veteran and a major supported of the FPP. I know he would be very proud to see the program continue on. Ken and I made a pact...we would continue to make pens until the last Service Member returned home even if it was just the two of us left to turn pens.

Thanks to each of you for getting involved and for all your hard work keeping this Project alive.

Keith

PS - I am sorry for not returning emails this week. Aaron had to update our digital certificate on our mail server which caused some problems with my email software and I have been without reliable email service for the entire week. I believe that the mail server upgrade happened at the same time my email software was being updated and there was some kind of bug issue as well. Late last night I think we resolved the problem.
.

[Mike Berndt]

Hi Keith,
I am going to institute the FPP with my eighth-grade students and will join your mission and goal to keep making pens until everyone is home and safe. It is a worthy and admirable cause to be a part of to help in anyway possible.
I will incorporate this as a service learning project in my curriculum and am looking forward to helping out the cause!! I know Ken would be greatful and may he rest in peace. He will not be forgotten.

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Mike,

We are glad to have you and your students join us making pens for our Service Members. I know for a fact that pens made by American students are the most prized to receive.

.

[Mike Berndt]

Hi Jackie and Keith,
I am approaching completion of the 40 pens that I purchased from you for the FPP and will be shipping them out in the middle of next week. I hope the troops enjoy them!!!! I want to order more pens from FPP to reach my goal of at least 100 pens made by Davisville Middle School students before the end of the school year. I am thinking of having a turn-a-thon to meet this goal.:)

[Mike Berndt]

Hello SMCreeker's,
I have 60 pens being shipped tomorrow for the freedom pen project from Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, RI. My students have worked very hard to get these pens done and have included a letter to the troops emphasizing their support for their service and dedication. I am going to try to get 40 more pens done before June 18th to meet my goal of making 100 pens before the end of this school year. However, next school year every eighth-grade student will make a pen for the troops overseas which means my students and I will have donated over 300 pens over a year and a half for a great and worthy cause.

God Bless America!!!!!:)

[Mike Berndt]

The pens are on their way to VA!!!! Please enjoy them!!!!

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Mike,

Freedom Pens are always appreciated, I hope your students get plenty of email from our Troops.

.

[Robert B. Povalkins]

Awesome site. Choked me up

[Boyd Walker]

Good shipping address:

I'm brand new to pen turning. My wife purchased an amazing pen for me and I love it! It really sparked an interest in me.

The reason I'm posting here is that I am in Afghanistan. I am an AF 1st Lt stationed at Camp Eggers in Kabul. I am here on a 365 day tour. I work in the HQ and can pass out anything you would like to send. Please feel free to use my address for this project:

Boyd Walker
CSTC-A/CAPTF
APO AE 09356

[Christopher daryy]

I am starting with Penn State Industries and am turning the 10 free pens first then i will be looking for more pens to turn





(http://www.pompeian.com)

[Chris Knoth]

All,
I am a Staff Sergeant in the US Army. I just want you all to know this is an awesome project. I know a few that have recieved these pens. I am currently leading a 6 man team in afghanistan but when I get back to the states I plan on starting to turn pens and will definately take part in this mission. All your support means the world to us over here. Keep it up and thanks!

Chris Knoth

[Paul Lint]

Jackie
I sent the money for 40 slimline pens via Paypal this morning.
Is this a mix of finishes or all one finish?
Have a nice day
Paul

[Elliott Wesley]

very helpfull indeed
__________________________________________________

[Peter Lavik]

Great threat! thank you Jackie!

[Kristopher Powers]

How do most of you engrave your pens? Do you use a rotary tool or just the table?

[Keith Outten]

Freedom Pens are rarely engraved. Considering the number of people serving in the Middle East we can't possibly make pens for all of them so we crank them out as fast as possible and ship them. Several years ago I was engraving pens for Chaplains as I was able to get a list of their names from a local Army base and it took me a long time to get them done.
.

[Kristopher Powers]

So how do I help make the pens. maybe engrave is a wrong word. (laser raster?)

[Keith Outten]

First tell me what you want to do, make pens engrave them or both.
.

[Kristopher Powers]

I guess I am thinking of engraving on them. encouraging notes on them I think would be nice.

[Jay Pugsley]

Is the address the same? How much are the kits? Has the shipping cost changed? Any free kits available?

[Joe Kelly]

Hi All,

I was referred over to Sawmill Creek to get some info on the FP project. I've sent some emails and a PM but I'm not getting any response.

Does anyone know who I can contact to get involved? I've sent some posts with addresses to order kits but I'm hesitant to do so without being able to get replies to emails, etc.

Thanks in advance for any info you can share with me.

Tim

Good Evening Tim.

Sarge Kelly here and I am a part of The Freedom Pens Project and we are stillk alive and kicking.

If you would provide me with youe phone number I will contact you and we can talk about Freedom Pens.

Thanks.

Joe "Sarge) Kelly
25906 Jefferson Ave
Denhan Springs, LA 70726
225-664-5225


Sarge

[James Tibbetts]

Sarge I am also interested in the pen project/ I will send you my phone number by pm.

[dave kite]

I'm interested as well?

Thanks!

Dave