FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Operation Helmets Reaches Two Milestones

Washington DC - Aug 1, 2006 - Operation Helmet has reached two milestones this week. Good news: we shipped our 20,000th helmet upgrade kit. Bad News: we hit an all time high of 3,537 requests with no money to buy and send more kits.

Operation Helmet has reached two milestones this week. We have now sent our 20,000th helmet upgrade kit to American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. This has been the result of 2 ˝ years of efforts by men, women, and children from all over this great country. Unfortunately, we have also hit an all time high of 3,537 requests for which we do not have the donations to cover the purchase of the helmet upgrade kits.

The majority of today’s helmets worn by most Marines and Airmen are designed to protect our troops from gunfire and flying debris – not blasts – which have accounted for 65 percent of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since May, according to figures compiled by the Associated Press.

A helmet upgrade kit consists of shock-absorbing pads and a new strap system. Adding shock-absorbing pads to combat helmets can reduce fatal impact forces to a survivable level.

“We get e-mails every day from young troopers with families who can’t afford to buy their own helmet kits,” says Robert Meaders, M.D., who founded Operation Helmet after his Marine grandson requested upgrade kits to make his company’s helmets safer in Iraq.

We need ongoing donations right now from the American people to keep this effort alive!

About Operation Helmet

Operation Helmet is a nonpartisan, 501(c)3 charitable grassroots effort that provides helmet upgrade kits free of charge to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Helmet depends on tax-deductible donations and is a team member of AmericaSupportsYou.mil. For $70-$100, depending on the manufacturer, added safety and comfort can be provided for a trooper. But donations of any amount are welcome. The donation can be designated for a specific branch of the military, a particular unit or an individual trooper. 99% of donations go toward helmet kits. There are no salaries or payroll costs deducted and the Operation’s books are available for inspection at the home office. To date, Operation Helmet has sent upgrade kits to over 20,000 troops.

Contacts:

Dr. Bob Meaders, President, Operation Helmet,
ophelm@operation-helmet.org
www.Operation-Helmet.org
(936) 449-9706

 

###