Help Gina Elise Help Our Veterans
A couple years ago I was on a flight from New York to Phoenix when I sat next to a female soldier returning from Iraq. After a little conversation I discovered that she had been gone nearly 2 years. I further discovered that she has two daughters, ages 15 and 18. I thought about that for a moment and realized that she missed some incredibly crucial years for her daughter. She missed one daughters first day of high school, probably first real boyfriend, among many other important events. For her other daughter she missed her getting a drivers license, prom, and even her high school graduation. The sight of her reuniting with her family was one of the memories I will hold on to for the rest of my life. It reminds me of the daily sacrifice thousands of people are making everyday for all of us.
I try to stay clear of political views on my blogs, especially my business blog. But no matter what anyone thinks of the administration, or the war, I’m certain we all agree that we need to treat our soldiers with the respect heroes deserve. And I think we can also all agree that the news about the poor conditions of our veteran hospitals makes us all sick. Our veterans, especially those disabled, deserve the best medical treatment this country can provide. And they deserve to know that the people in this country recognize and are grateful for their sacrifice.
While at Blogworld, I met someone who someone who is doing more than her part for our veterans. Her name is Gina Elise and she started a pin-up calendar to help raise money for veterans. She was attending Blogworld with Military.com and I met her when she stopped by my booth to let me know about her calender. I’m ashamed to say that I had completely forgotten that Veterans Day was coming up. During the 2 day event, Gina posed for pictures with people, signed calendars and posters and did interviews to get her message out. After nice conversation with Gina’s mom, I learned that she has also visited military hospitals and will be visiting Walter Reed in January. She really puts a lot of time and effort into this project.
The combination of guilt for forgetting about Veterans Day, and the pretty girl asking, was more than enough to get me to buy one of her calenders. She signed it and even kissed my birth date so that it now has a big lipstick mark on it. How great is that for my girlfriend to see!
These are great calenders. I’m a big fan of the old pin-up artist like Vargas. Gina does a great job replicating the old pin-up girls calender of the 40’s. You can pick one up for yourself at her site, and she will even sign it for you. Or even better, you can buy some for soldiers and she will either send them to Iraq or to hospitals.
Gina also has a “Sponsors & Thanks” page on her site. Although I haven’t talked to her about this, I’m guessing that if you made a purchase of a few calenders for soldiers, she might provide a nice link back from her site. Donating to non-profits and asking for a link has always been a smart trick for good link builders.
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