Woodcraft is leaving the Freedom Pens Project
Woodcraft's corporate office has just informed me that they will be operating their own project to provide pens for our Troops. Woodcraft prefers to handle their own distribution to send their pens directly to the Middle East so they will no longer be operating as part of our project.
As Woodcraft will no longer host our Freedom Pens Project Veterans Day Turn-A-Thons we need to find an alternate host for our TAT's. Your help obtaining either another company as a host or an alternate local facility would be appreciated. Jackie and I will be glad to coordinate announcements concerning local events including locations and time for each event.
Please respond in this thread if you are able to coordinate a local host so we can get a list of sites together for this years Turn-A-Thon.
Yesterday I was informed that the Military Medics and the Morale Welfare and Recreation Centers will help us to distribute our pens to our Troops. This will help us streamline the route of pens from our organization directly to those serving in the combat areas.
Thanks,
Keith
ATTENTION: Albuquerque-area turners!
I just spoke to Albuquerque Woodcraft, and they WILL have a Turn-a-Thon on Saturday, November 10, at the store, from 9 to 5. The lathe classroom will be open, and each participant will get one pen kit and one set of blanks for free to turn for the Freedom Pen Project. They will also accept for shipment any pens that are turned at home for the project.
The gentleman I spoke with has no idea why Woodcraft corporate has pulled out (and really wasn't aware that they had done so)---as late as this past summer corporate reimbursed the local store for 100 pen kits for the Ruidoso group to turn Freedom Pens.
Since Albuquerque is not a "company" store, but is locally-owned, they aren't compelled to fall under the corporate constraints. Since the owner and his wife are retired Army and have a daughter who was/is active military, they are big boosters of the program, so I don't foresee Albuquerque abandoning the project at all.
Bottom line: come one, come all to Woodcraft on November 10 for a turn-a-thon!!!!
Nancy (51 days)