Having no real knowledge of our troops but a fierce need to do something, she decided to write. And write she did.
Corporal Jesse Schertz, hit by suicide bomber on 12/22/2004, became Annie’s first Pen Pal. The Marine in Iraq and Annie at home shared tears, fears, tragedies and triumphs.
The faith and friendship of two strangers brought together by war has proudly grown into the American Soldier Network.
● Over 630 million shoes are thrown away every year in America creating chemical compounds too difficult to breakdown in our Landfills.them FREE to impoverished villages and communities in 3rd world countries.
● Once 25,000 pairs reach the operation hub, Shoes are cleaned-up, repaired & re-fab’d. Then, the Shoes are distributed to the local towns’ people.
● This employs the local residents, giving them a trade, skill & a paycheck.
THIS IS ONLY THE START.
● When the challenge is met, a check for $0.40 per pound of shoes goes to our American Soldier Network to aid the annual veterans outreach projects and advocating for veterans needs nationwide. This campaign directly aids our active duty military, our combat wounded men/women and veterans or all eras. Our Heroes NEED US!!
BARSTOW • Volunteers from the American Soldier Network paid a visit to the Veterans Home of California-Barstow on Monday, and they showed up with hundreds of bags of free stuff for the veterans there.
ASN founder Annie Nelson and her team of volunteers came to the Veterans Home for the program’s annual Hearts for Heroes Valentine’s Day Outreach. Nelson’s team brought 205 SWAG bags.
“SWAG for us stands for Showing Warriors America’s Gratitude,” Nelson said. “In the bags we have items of Valentine’s candy and handmade cards from children across California, as well as items donated by the organizations that support us.”
Nelson has spent the past 10 years traveling the country and raising awareness for U.S. veterans of all eras. For this year’s Hearts for Heroes event, ASN chose to visit the High Desert.
“The reason we chose the Barstow Veterans Home was we had a shoe drive for the American Soldier Network back in October, and the Barstow/Victorville area community raised over 5,000 pairs of used shoes to contribute to our shoe drive,” Nelson said. “This is our way of giving back to the Barstow/Victorville community, delivering our Valentine’s (gifts) to your Veterans Home.”
Veterans Home director Raymond Lau said he was impressed with the ASN event.
“It is really super good,” Lau said. “We have a lot of volunteers that come up here, and for the American Solider Network it’s the first time they came up here, and that’s about a three-hour drive for them. We’re simply amazed.”
The world will remember Mr. Winters for his Television, Film and Comedy. We at American Soldier Network will Salute and remember his service to the United States of America as a part of the Greatest Generation. Winters was a Marine in World War II. Later he battled mental health issues the rest of his life. A true American Hero! Semper Fi and Ooh Rah Devil Dog, we know heaven will be filled with belly laughs for your battle buddies.
On a beautiful Saturday evening in April at the amazing home of Actress/Artist/Author and Philanthropist Jane Seymour and husband James Keach, Director/Producer/Philanthropist and CEO PCH Films the couple hosted the 2nd annual Open Hearts Foundation Celebration. The evening kicked off with a lovely cocktail reception, silent auction and celebrity arrivals then moved up to the beautiful ball room setting under the stars for what was an inspirational evening emcee’d by CNN’s Christi Paul with musical performances by Glen Campbell, LP, Marc Coehn and Johnny Keach.
The Open Hearts Foundationcreated by Jane Seymour and husband James Keach, is a respected nonprofit charity established to bring the Open Heart Philosophy, which stands for selfless giving even in the face of adversity, into communities worldwide. The Foundation provides funds to charitable organizations in the areas of Health, Arts, Education, Sports, and honors individuals that exemplify the Open Heart Philosophy in their service to others.
The notable honorees receiving this year’s Open Heart Award, a limited-edition fine-art sculpture created by Jane Seymour depicting her original open heart icon design, will include individuals who live the Open Heart philosophy including:
Glen and Kim Campbell: Legendary country singer and five-time Grammy winner Glen Campbell announced last year that he was living with Alzheimer’s disease (www.alz.org). Since his diagnosis, he and his wife have used their story as a platform to help raise awareness for the disease that affects an estimated 5.1 million people worldwide. Campbell is currently touring on his “Goodbye Tour,” and was recently honored at the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards, receiving the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
John and Roxanna Green: John and Roxanna Green established The Christina-Taylor Green Foundation (www.christina-taylorgreen.org) in memory of their daughter, who was tragically killed in the January 8, 2011 Tucson shooting associated with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The Christina-Taylor Green Foundation is dedicated to honoring the life and memory of Christina-Taylor through charitable and educational projects that reflect and embody her interests, values and dreams.
Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete: Actress Holly Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, established the HollyRod Foundation (www.HollyRod.org) in honor of Holly’s late father Matt Robinson, who lost his battle with Parkinson’s Disease. The organization has since expanded its mission to raise awareness for autism, a developmental disorder their oldest son RJ was diagnosed with at the age of three. The HollyRod Foundation is dedicated to providing compassionate care to those living with Autism and Parkinson’s disease.
Kristi Yamaguchi: Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion, Kristi Yamaguchi, is one of the most popular and successful figure skaters of our time. Along with her many awards and accomplishments, Kristi is a member of the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the US Olympic Hall of Fame. In 1996, she founded the Always Dream Foundation dedicated to fundraising and supporting children’s charities. In 2008 Kristi became a Dancing with the Stars Champion and since has become a New York Times best-selling author, her children’s book Dream Big, Little Pig soared onto the bestseller list and remained there for multiple weeks. She is married to Stanley Cup Champion, Bret Hedican and together, they have two young daughters.
Annie Nelson founder of The American Soldier Network, (www.americansoldiernetwork.org ) is passionate about our service members. Nelson’s own awareness of the issues faced by our soldiers and veterans grew out of her pen pal relationship with Marine Cpl. Jesse Schertzwho was serving in 2004. Also by living through 5 concussions, PTSD and a life threatening brain tumor just 19 months ago. She has truly “walked the walk” for may of the same issues our combat wounded suffer. For the past 8 years, Nelson has dedicated her life to spreading patriotism across the United States by raising awareness of the needs of our veterans, our injured soldiers, and their families, and the challenges they all face during the reintegration process whthey return from Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the 1st Open Heart Patriot Award.
4 of our wounded heroes also shared in the American Soldier Network Open Heart Patriot Award, Ssgt. Richard Gonzales, Sergeant Sara Bryant, Corporal Jake Henry, Lance Corporal Blake Bibbins
Dear James and Jane,
I just wanted to thank you guys for honoring Annie Nelson
and the work she does for the American Soldier Network.
Annie is a dear friend and one of the greatest supporters our military has in our industry.
