Toys for Tots Program

                                     U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program

MISSION:
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.
GOAL:
The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.
OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation's most valuable natural resources - our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.
ACTIVITIES:
The principal Toys for Tots activities which take place each year are the collection and distribution of toys in the communities in which a Marine Corps Reserve Unit is located and in communities without a Reserve Unit that has a Marine Corps League Detachment or group of men and women, generally veteran Marines, authorized by Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to conduct a local Toys for Tots campaign. Local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinators conduct an array of activities throughout the year, which include golf tournaments, foot races, bicycle races and other purely voluntary events designed to increase interest in Toys for Tots, and concurrently generate toy and monetary donations.

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation

OVERVIEW: Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, an IRS recognized 501(C)(3) not-for-profit public charity is the fund raising, funding and support organization for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation was created at the behest of the U.S. Marine Corps and provides support in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, who directs the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation has supported Toys for Tots since 1991.
GOVERNANCE: Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is governed by a board of eleven directors, all of whom are successful business leaders from throughout the nation. All directors served as U.S. Marines. The Foundation's professional staff is located in an office suite in the Marine Corps Association building aboard Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, about 35 miles south of Washington, DC.
PRODUCTIVITY: From 1991 - 2005, the Foundation supplemented local toy collections with 64.5 million toys valued at $344 million. Concurrently, the Foundation provided over $3.9 million worth of promotion and support materials, which enable local Toys for Tots coordinators to conduct more effective local campaigns.
MISSION: The mission of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is to raise funds to provide toys to supplement the collections of local Toys for Tots coordinators; defray the costs of conducting annual Toys for Tots campaigns; provide administrative, advisory, financial, logistic and promotional support of local coordinators; provide other support that the Marine Corps, as a federal agency, cannot provide; and conduct public education and information programs, which call the general public to action in support of Toys for Tots.
GOAL: The primary goal of the Foundation is the same as that of the overall Toys for Tots program: i.e. - to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the Foundation are the same as those of the overall Toys for Tots program: i.e. - to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation's most valuable natural resources - our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to improving communities in the future.
ACTIVITIES: The Foundation engages in two categories of activities: Program Services and Support Services.
Program Services
Toy Distribution: This is the process of obtaining and delivering toys to local Toys for Tots coordinators and providing the support and assistance those coordinators need to conduct effective toy collection and distribution campaigns in their communities. Toys are a combination of those purchased by the Foundation and those donated by corporations.
Support of local coordinators: This involves arranging the creation, publication, manufacture and delivery of an array of promotion and support materials to local Toys for Tots coordinators. It includes managing all financial matters for local coordinators as well as updating and publishing a manual for the conduct of local programs. Concisely stated, this activity encompasses providing a wide range of support to approximately 550 local Toys for Tots coordinators and their support groups. Today, there are nearly 20,000 Marines, Marine Corps League members, veteran Marines and volunteers involved in annual campaigns.

Education: The Foundation conducts an annual public information and education campaign. This activity is designed to give the general public a clear understanding of the benefits that accrue to individuals, communities and the nation from Toys for Tots. It increases visibility and name recognition and stimulates the general public to action in support of Toys for Tots. The campaign includes distributing a series of news releases, distributing TV and radio public service announcements, publishing newsletters, arranging media events and appearances, arranging for national corporations to incorporate information about Toys for Tots into their paid advertisements, conducting special events, maintaining a website and distributing educational material about Toys for Tots to the general public.

It's scary as you get older.....

     No one ever tells you that getting older sucks until you actually start to get there. Well as a middle aged man (OMG I never thought I would say that) I can see what the hype is all about. Aches, pains, pills, depression...it all sucks ass! Sure, I heard my parents talk amongst aunts and uncles about it, but I never paid any attention to it. It didn't pertain to me. So why worry?

     Then there's death. It creeps up on you slowly but then, your life flashes by you like a vapor in the wind! Do I believe in God. Yes. I believe in a supreme being that HAD to create this all! I mean, c'mon, ya can't get something from nothing!! Someone had to create all this. Just look at a blade of grass, a flower blooming in the garden. Where did it all come from? Do I believe in the Bible. Some parts. I do believe in a flood with the Ark. They found the Ark. Proof is there. I believe Jesus preached the word of God. I don't believe we are all going to hell because it states that eating Shellfish is an abomination in God's eyes which brings me to being homosexual is an abomination in God's eyes.

     Lately for some reason I have been seeing a lot of things denouncing God and an after life. Professor Stephan Hawkings said that we are all like computers, when our battery cell burns out that's it. We don't go anywhere from there. He said if we believe we do we are simple minded little humans. Morgan Freeman did a report on the afterlife saying scientists are starting to see from tests what certain things people see after they die and come back. Such as the light at the end of the tunnel is nothing more that sparks, you can still see with you eyes, that are still coming from your brain until all cells and activity stops within your body. The Democratic Party has decided to exempt the word GOD from their speeches during the Democratic National Convention. Schools don't want to use the word God in the Pledge of Allegiance. I mean what the Hell is going on here?

     Is there a God? I say there has to be. In my heart I believe there is. I pray every night for the safety and health of friends and family, forgiveness of my sins, to help calm the minds of radical terrorists and to have peace on earth as we did when Adam and Eve were on earth in the early stages. Plus, look at our universe. It never ends, so many stars and planets, there has to be other life out there. We can't be the only ones.

     Am I afraid to Die? Early? Yes. As an old decrepit man who is almost 100?  No!  If I could, I would like to live for EVER! But unless there are any Vamps out there that are reading this, I don't think that will happen. I want to see all my Nieces and Nephews grow up, graduate, go to college, get married and I want to become a great uncle.

     My sister Jody Died an early life. She was 21. I don't think she EVER even thought about it. Probably never crossed her mind.

     My sister Kerri stared death in the face for quite a long time. She had cancer. But She overcame and beat its ass!!    

      But I hate to say it, I think about it everyday. Some say I am obsessed with it. That I need help. Do I ? Or is it normal for me to feel this way? Is it normal to feel like I am slipping into a depression? Do I seek help for it, or do I just let it pass? Sometimes I just don't know. I hope I go like everyone hopes they do, In my sleep. Where I go to sleep and just keep sleeping and enjoy being really really rested.

     Mom says I need to be around my family more and start going to Church. The way my life is, there isn't time. I pray at home, and I try to see family as much as I can. Just with my full time job and business, it is rough. real rough.

     Well hopefully this is a phase around my age. I wonder what my high school buddies feel that are around my age?



                                                     Well, we will see......Until next time..........

Hot couple alert: Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin

A potential romantic pairing of Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) and Derek (Tyler Hoechlin) aka “Sterek” may become a reality on the third season of ‘Teen Wolf’, teases Jeff Davis, the show runner of the popular MTV fantasy series.
On the show, the characters are written as straight guys — but some very passionate fans of the show see them as soulmates who complete each other. And hope they become more than friends who should totally make out all the time. The characters clung to each other in a pool, exchanged loaded glances all the time, and at one point found themselves lying on top of each other for most of an episode, paralyzed by supernatural forces. One of the season’s major villains even commented that they’d make a great pair.
At Comic-Con, O’Brien and Hoechlin were asked about the possibility of a Sterek hookup, and they reached across the table to hold hands as Hoechlin said, “Honestly, on this show it’s 50/50,” as to whether Derek would get a girlfriend or just date Stiles.
Showrunner Jeff Davis swears that he didn’t write those moments in to toy with fans’ fraglie emotions. In fact, Season 2 was already finished and locked by the time he discovered just how devoted the fans were to the potential coupling.
Now that he does know, though, he’s certainly not going to avoid writing those, uh, tense scenes between the reluctant allies. “Now that I know, it’ll be interesting to see how knowing will influence the writing later on,” Davis teases.
But why do viewers want to see these seemingly straight same-sex characters together?
“I’ll admit this is a bit out of reach of my understanding, even as a gay man,” Davis said in the recent interview with E! Online.
“I’m also not sure they may see the characters as perfectly ‘straight,’” he explains. “We’ve certainly made some hints to the possibility of Stiles being bisexual. As to the psychology of why ‘girls like boys who like boys,’ I haven’t asked enough questions or heard enough to really understand the psychology behind it. I know of certain relationships such Holmes and Watson that might have a kernel of truth to them within the actual writing, but then others I’m less sure about. Like what’s called ‘Wincest,’ a romantic relationship between the Winchester brothers on Supernatural.”

~Courtesy Male*Celeb*News

He may not know it, but he IS the Love of my Life!

I met Jason quite a long time ago. It was September 12th 2003. Funny thing we were supposed to be a one night stand. We met on an AOL chatroom in August of 2003, but took a while for us to actually meet up.When we did, I was nervous. Nervous as hell! Never had I ever been with someone as cute as him. I had never done anything like "hooking" up with someone. Just wasn't my style. Made me nervous. I think I was scared about the whole HIV thing that was spreading like wildfire. That stopped me from sleeping around. At this time, cocktails (not the drinks) had made a huge impact in the gay lifestyle, and Gays started to have unprotected sex once again because they though it was a possible "Cure" for the disease. But thank goodness, because of my beliefs, I never came down with the disease myself. 45 years old and clean!!
     Jason and I made our relationship official on Christmas day, it was the cutest thing. We were at the Edge Bar at the time, he took me downstairs, started to cry (I hope in happiness) and asked me to make it official and be his boyfriend. I said Yes of course! This Christmas, December 25th 2012, will be our 9 year Anniversary!! I couldn't be happier! It's a great accomplishment these days for gays to be together for 6 months! But nine years? Crap, that's like 50 years in straight years!
     As any couple we do have our problems. We do argue at times, but more like an old Married couple would bicker at each other. We take care of each other in different ways. It's a give and take relationship. There are times when I would like to strangle him when he makes me so mad, and he probably feels the same way, except he would pull a Dynasty and throw me in a lily pond, or possible push me down a flight of stairs. But that doesn't change the way I feel about him.
     We have done a lot together in the past nine years, went to a LOT of concerts, been to Florida Twice together, Numerous Pride Parades and market days in the city of Chicago and the List goes on. The biggest thing we have done together is Purchase the bar where he first asked me to be his boyfriend. We purchased the Edge on December 24th, 2007 the Day before our anniversary. We changed the name to Club Krave. Now, that we have purchased this bar, we barely see each other, it is overwhelming, I work a full time job 50 hours a week, him 40 hours or less a week, plus we do what we do for the bar to keep it up and running. It's tiresome!
     Even though there is a lot of stressful times we have had together, especially now that we own Club Krave, there are a lot of great things we have done together that balances things out. Someday, I hope to get Married. I hope to be able to call him my spouse, instead of my partner, my other half, my significant other, my bitch...lol Just kidding! He is my Wonder Woman as I hope I am to him his Superman. I have never cheated on him, strayed away from him, and would never hurt him in that way. I hope he would feel the same way. I love you Jason Howell, and I hope we grow old together and at some point, we can look back at what we achieved together, our business, hopefully a family, children, grand children, and just be proud of each other for what we accomplished in life!

                                                                        Love you always and forever,
                                                                                                Johnny

                                                        Until next time.........
    

My Baby Sister Shannon Turns 30 Sept 4th!!

     It is completely unbelievable to me that my youngest sibling is turning 30! My, Gosh where have the years gone? I can remember the day when I went into the service and my little Sister Shannon cried when I left. She was 4 years old then. She cried for 2 weeks straight asking when I was going to come back. 26 years later,  She has been Married (something I am not allowed to do by law because of being Gay) and has children. Her husband, Ryan, is a Chicago Police officer and Shannon was a Gym School teacher. They do very well for their selves and have a wonderful loving family. I love my lil sis with all my heart. It is so hard to get to see her because of owning a bar and working a full time job 50 hours a week. My time is consumed to the point where I am already to retire. Just tired of working and would like to spend more time with my family.
     Well Shannon Marie, Happy birthday, and I hope you have many more. When the time comes that I am not around anymore and have moved on to my next venture in the universe, I hope you remember the times we had together and how much I love you! Happy Birthday!!!

                                                                       Love Johnny

                                                                       Until next time.......

Vacation is Over...Blah

     Well Vacation is finally over. Been a great 7 days off too! I got to go to Comicon for the first time and met a lot of stars.I will post some pictures below from that day.

     Also had a great time at Market days. Big Street festival in Chicago. Like a Huge Block party!! We saw Sheena Easton, Olivia Newton John, and the pointer sisters performed...it was really cool.
     So back to work it is and the long 10 hour days are going to kill me. But I will get used to it quickly again.

                                                                            UNTIL TOMORROW.....

Why Must there be Fake Friends?

Fake friends are a term used to describe fair-weather or selfish friends. True friends are like diamonds (precious and rare), while fake friends are like autumn leaves found everywhere. A faithful friend is the medicine of life. Friends are rightly called an alter ego and they are perhaps those people with whom we can share our joys and sorrows. Adversity is the litmus test of any friendship. Fake

friends are those friends who deceive us and break our trust somewhere down the line. They talk behind our back rather than talking face to face with us. In times of adversity, they desert others and leave them in a lurch. One should be careful while choosing friends and keep such fake friends at arm’s length. Joan Jett had once rightly remarked, “You got nothing to lose. You don't lose when you lose fake friends.” It is always good to keep fake or fair-weather friends at arm’s length. Remember, a man is known by the company he keeps.