# Cafe Day



## military granny (31 Mar 2006)

Some of you may have heard about Auriele Diotte and her challenge to her class to write letters to our troops. From that small step, a large idea was born. 

Auriele's father, a wonderful religious man, has gone through his churches and congrgations around the country are taking pictures of themselves waving to our troops. They do this to show our men and women in the sandbox just how many people back home are supporting them. 

Most of you know that I am an educator and I was so impressed by this story that I contacted Auriele's family. All of them are truly amazing people and I feel honoured to have been a part of their life and to have spoken to their daughter. 

I wanted to know how I could help. I wanted to know how I could use all of th staff here to get something going. I asked the staff to find out the email address for every school board in an assigned province. Sometimes this was difficult, so today I used their information and I contacted every ministry of education across our entire country to get emails. Some provinces jumped at the chance to help out, others are making me jump through hoops. 

Anyhow, I have now emailed 156 school boards across the country and i still have two provinces and 2 territories to complete. 

I will attach a copy of the letter I sent to each school board. I am hoping that every school board will be on board with this. if so, imagine if each school board has 30 schools, that's 4500 schools. Imagine if each school has 300 students and 1/2 of them do it. That's almost 700 000 letters for our troops! 
Won't that be amazing! 



_____________________________________ 


Angeie ***** 
Public Affairs Representative –MCF 
(204) ***-**** 
angeie@marriedtothecandianforces.com 
on behalf of 
www.cafeday.ca 


To whom it may concern, 

My name is Angeie and I am a military spouse and an educator. I would like to invite you to join schools and school boards as well as other institutions across Canada taking part in a letter writing campaign to show our support for our Canadian Armed Forces members serving in OP ARCHER in Khandahar, Afghanistan. 

Auriele Diotte, a wonderful 14 year-old girl from Pickering recently challenged her class to write a letter showing their support for our troops. Her idea blossomed and was picked up by local and national newspapers around the country and the once small idea has grown into a nation wide campaign. Auriele will also be addressing Parliament to motion that we put forth a National Day of Recognition for our soldiers. Auriele is supported by many Members of Parliament across Canada. Her website is listed below. 

As the Public Affairs Representative for the largest military support site for Canadian families and as an educator, I felt very strongly to get behind this young woman and do what I could do for this movement. The hundreds of families that I speak to on a daily basis have continually expressed what a difference a letter from a child would make that shows that they support our troops. 

In this day, every time we turn on the news, we seem to lose yet another member of our military family. That’s one more family without a loved one, one more child without a parent, a child like each one in your district. For our soldiers to see that the people of our nation stand behind our troops and the sacrifices that they make and those of their families, the boost in morale would be insurmountable. 

In order to make this as easy as possible, I have written a generic lesson plan and provided a variety of ways in which the lesson can be implemented. The time factor is a little as 30 minutes. In discussion with CFPSA and DND, all letters collected will be delivered to our soldiers from a central mail centre in Belleville, Ontario. We ask that the individual schools return the letters to you through interschool mail and that the boards send one large package of letters each to: 

ANY CF MEMBER 
OP ARCHER 
PO BOX 5058 STN FORCES 
BELLEVILLE, ON 
K8N 5W6 

Many national newspapers as well as television stations have expressed great interest in covering the arrival off letters in Khandahar. This will likely be televised on the national News and I am sure that your students would be delighted to watch the program. 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at: 
Angeie ***** 
(204) ***-**** 
angeie@marriedtothecanadianforces.com 

or visit Auriele’s website at www.cafeday.ca


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## angeie (15 Apr 2006)

Thanks Military Granny!

Here's a little update!

To date, I have received many emails from school boards, administrators, and educators thanking Auriele for her idea and for the National Letter Writing Campaign.  The letters, some of them, have been mailed to Kandahar already and many more will be on their way soon.  Even the Governor General is on board and has contacted me twice about the Campaign and how impressed she is with all the work that Auriele (and I, on her behalf) have done.

If you would like more information about the campaign, a copy of the lesson plan for educators, or how you can get your school on board, please contact me at angeie@marriedtothecanadianforces.com or visit our support site for military families at www.marriedtothecanadianforces.com

We look forward to seeing you and your family there.

Angeie
Public Affairs Representative
angeie@marriedtothecanadianforces.com

Feel free to read the Saturday National Post article about our support webiste for more information about us:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=ac5aed15-ea15-492e-ac78-45926a31283c&k=95956


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## angeie (27 Apr 2006)

Hi...Christie Blatchford from The Globe and Mail is doing an article about the National Writing Campaign that I put together for our soldiers.  please pick up a copy tomorrow, April, 27 and read all about it!


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## angeie (28 Apr 2006)

LOl...guess I misunderstood...she mentioned it though... ;D

One school in Peterborough is sending over 600 letters to our soldiers this week!

To date, we have thousands of letters going, but I don't have an exact number because the schools didn't have to tell me what they were doing.

I am proud of our Canadian youth.


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## angeie (13 May 2006)

I am pretty excited.

The Minister of National Defence send me a personal email endorsing the project.  He also spoke with The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Hillier about the project.  Gen Hillier wrote an endorsement for the project and it was included as an attachment to the email.  I can now send both around to the schools and see if i can get anymore schools on board with the campaign that have not done it yet.

I am thrilled that these two men took time out of their lives to endorse this campaign.


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## Booked_Spice (13 May 2006)

Let's not forget about that little girl who started this campaign. It is great about all the media attention this campaign is getting. But remember it is not about us.. it is about a child who believes in our men and woman who started this and she needs to put in the spotlight.


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## Pea (13 May 2006)

Booked_Spice said:
			
		

> Let's not forget about that little girl who started this campaign. It is great about all the media attention this campaign is getting. But remember it is not about us.. it is about a child who believes in our men and woman who started this and she needs to put in the spotlight.



+1 for that! Remember the little girl started it, and that's what it should be about. An amazing little girl that cares. Not about all the attention it receives.


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## angeie (13 May 2006)

Yes, it has ALWAYS been about her.  I took on the challenge of contacting every school board, making lesson plans, and keeping in contact with the schools weekly because I believed in her message.  Because it was something that I could do because I thought her idea was remarkable. 

All I wanted to share was that two very influential men also thought that she was pretty special and have thrown their support to the campaign.


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## Booked_Spice (13 May 2006)

angeie said:
			
		

> Hi...Christie Blatchford from The Globe and Mail is doing an article about the National Writing Campaign that I put together for our soldiers.  please pick up a copy tomorrow, April, 27 and read all about it!



Well it does not mention anything in regards to the little girl. For this reason I responded. Their is no "I" in team


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## deskpilotRMC (13 May 2006)

One can always say, while there is no "I" in team, there is a "me".  I am certain that we all agree that there is no attempt to hijack a little girl's idea.  When a champion comes along to launch a campaign, we support the campaign - irrespective of the individual.  "a good leader accepts more than her fair share of the blame, and less than her fair share of the credit."  
As a collective group, this greater community supports our soldiers in whatever method we can - even through a little girl with a great idea.

What have you done lately??  


2 points for you Angeie


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## camochick (14 May 2006)

I guess some of us dont like to toot our own horn as much as some. Some like to keep it behind the scenes and feel that they shouldnt try and gain notoriety on the backs of soldiers. Perhaps some people should stop hiding behind their husbands and just come right out and say what they need to say. When you've paid your dues of  having a husband overseas, then you can come talk to me about what we do.


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## Pea (14 May 2006)

deskpilotRMC said:
			
		

> What have you done lately??



Wow, first post and you're already wearing the crown of an internet bully. I don't see the need to ask someone what it is they have done, when their initial point was about how someone else seems to feel as if they need to advertise constantly what they are doing. I thought this whole Cafe Day was about our troops, about how a little girl wants to do all she can to support them. This is starting to feel less and less about the troops, and more and more about making those helping with the cause to feel important. This little girl had an awesome idea, and that should be all that matters. We shouldn't be comparing who has "done more"; instead why don't we all just show our support in the way we feel necessary and leave it at that.


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## Booked_Spice (14 May 2006)

Thank you very much for your posts to go to my defense.Pea and camochick.

First and foremost  to answer this response, I have sacrificed a great deal for this tour and for the freedom of our country.. I have given my husband, my childrens father to serve on the front lines to protect people that can not protect themselves. I have known the risks and realized that this tour would suffer great casualites to rebuld a nation that needs are help and support.  And yes this may include my husband. I understand that and accept that, if that is what fate has in store for us. But I have sacrificed this for the greater of this country that I call home.. If this is not enough, then I am sorry. This is my foremost sacrifice. Because Family is what I hold dear.

Now second is the soldiers families is what I hold most dear. I don't want my name in fine prints and I don't want my name all over the media posts contrariory of what my husband has said. I can go into detail of what I have done for the troops of this current Roto but that is not the point. I use my influence to greater the soldiers and their familes. Because this is what is important to ME. NOw when the time comes that my action hits the media, I will stand by the sidelines, knowing that in my heart I have accomplished all I have set out to accomplish and that would be all the gratification that I will need. If you sit here and read this and question whether I am blowing smoke up your butt.. please feel to message me because I will be glad to fill you in. But like I said I have no desires to have my name all over the front page news. I do not need to further my career or use anything to advance my career. I do this for the simple fact that I care for our military and for families that they hold dear.


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## HollywoodHitman (14 May 2006)

Wow..... :

Kudo's to the little girl that started this.....We thank you.


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## deskpilotRMC (14 May 2006)

Pea, first of all, I didnt address you. The quote "what have you done lately?" is an after thought, to allow people to engage in their own thoughts, as to really think what have they done to make a difference. 
My post was for the lady who had been mentioned in the first post, who seemingly has done some leg work for this campaign. Success and appreciation motivates people.

Second, my I have your consent?

_*typo error*_


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## Pea (14 May 2006)

deskpilotRMC said:
			
		

> Pea, first of all, I didnt address you. The quote "what have you done lately?" is an after thought, to allow people to engage in their own thoughts, as to really think what have they done to make a difference.
> My post was for the lady who had been mentioned in the first post, who seemingly has done some leg work for this campaign. Success and appreciation motivates people.
> 
> Second, my I have you consent?



Ok, well your post did not come off that way at all. When a person's first post comes off the way it did to me, one takes it as a troll trying to stir up trouble. That is what it looked like to me. "Second, my I have you consent?" What are you saying here?  ???


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## angeie (14 May 2006)

I just thought I would give everyone an update.

I had a wonderful lengthy conversation with Auriele's mom today, she is as kind and generous as her daughter.  She let me know that she had recevied the copy of the email from the Minister and from the Chief of Defense Staff and told me that Auriele had had a chance to speak with the Minister earlier last month.  She got me caught up to date with everything that has been going on in Auriele's life and her future plans.  Auriele is an amzing girl and I continually seem to be so impressed by her.

I also caught her up to date with what has been going on on my end with the writing campaign.  I shared some of the letter form the teachers and she shared some of the letters from students that had been mailed to her.  I let her know that there were plans to send some letters to Kabul as well.

Together, we discussed plans for next year, I let her know about where things worked and didn't work, and how, from my end, I can get the information out there more quickly.  I will likely speak with her or her husband again nearer to the end of the campign, probably when I have heard back from the padre and can let them know what the padre is doing with the collage.


Now, I came back in here today and was greatly saddened to read how this topic has taken off in the wrong direction.  This lovely family routinely reads threads about their daughter on the internet and since this is available to the public, it is very distressing to see how a couple people who, through their own personal dislike for me and not for anything that I have done, have jumped on this wonderful campaign and made a mockery of it; have decided to attack me on a thread that is very close to my heart.  Until you have walked a mile in the shoes of this family or seen the effort that all of us have put behind this, it saddens me that you would try to cheapen it. I have stated in every document what i am doing on behalf of her, of all steps and schools and papers and articles that I have written about her, I have always focussed the media attantion on her and gladly given media her email and home telephone number (with permission from her parents).  By me using the word "I" is me telling all of you what I have done, the lesson plan, the rationale, the weekly two page updates, all because I admire and am inspired by her and have ALWAYS said so...please go read the opening document that someone else posted here...I* did not post the document here.*  I do, however, know that this amazing family would be hurt that for resons that have nothing to do with this campaign, you are attacking me and making a mockery of this thread.  I ask that you use good judgement and cease the negativity here.


On a more postive and respectful note, I will be again be working on this campaign next year.  If any school would like the rationale, the lesson plan, and an update, they are free to contact me.  The date for next year will be changed to March 21st, to reflect the propossed National Day of recognition.  I also have email copies from the family of Auriele's speech which I have shared with all schools and have an email about her introduction into Parliament.  

Thank you to all achools that participated and the Diotte family and I look forward to your participation next year.  See you all in 2007.


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## muskrat89 (14 May 2006)

Locked for now.

OK. After several DS reading this over, it appears that there probably has been some miscommunication. Angeie, I see no malice directed at you or your efforts. rather, I get the impression that some of the posters may have mistook your enthusiasm for bragging. _Sometimes_, I think someone can be so proud of what they are doing, they give the _appearance_ of losing sight of the objective. I think the posters were just trying to gauge that for themselves. We, on this board, know how much pea, camochick, and others have done on behalf of soldiers in the CF. Naturally, they became defensive. By the same token it appears, you have expended tremendous efforts on your cause as well.

Imagine a parent getting so wrapped up in getting the biggest present for their child, that they complete lose sight of the meaning of Christmas. I think some of us were getting those vibes from you. Granted, the internet is a difficult place to express ourselves sometimes, and a lot can be lost in the delivery. We at Army.ca wish Auriele all of the best in her tremendously honorable project, and are thankful for the efforts of all who support our serving members.

I'll let this cool off for a day, and then re-open it. Hopefully, the eye will remain on Christmas, and not the size or value of our gifts.


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## muskrat89 (15 May 2006)

Open.

Eye on the ball, check your egos at the door.  

This has been a good thread, for the most part.


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## Pea (15 May 2006)

Thanks Muskrat.

I want to apologise if I mistook any of the statements to be different than they were intended to be. I did take them to be "losing sight of the objective". I have spoken to the poster and she has explained that it was not the case, so I apologise for responding the way I did. It is hard to decipher what one truly means on the internet sometimes. 

Once again, Kudos to the little girl who had the idea, and to everyone who does all they can for the troops.


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## paracowboy (16 May 2006)

kiss and make up, then?

Well, you can all kiss me, anyway.

hmmm, should I make the obvious joke about Kiss and make-up? Nahh.

Well done to the little girl, and to angeie, for helping her with this.


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## shaunswife (24 May 2006)

its a great idae, she is such a wonderful girl, and great that her parents and teachers nd now everyone has supported her, and on aboard



ang


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## Fusilier (24 May 2006)

Hi guys, to get back on topic...letters to the troops.   We've heard from all of you who are involved in sending to the troops - kudos!  Now a word from the receiving end.  There are approx 2200 troops here, fighting troops, headquarters, and our support troops.  The Kandahar postal section (four very hard working guys) take all the "any soldier" letters and divy them up between TF ORION - 1 PPCLI BG (900 + pers), NSE (300 +/-), NCE (300 +/-), TF AEGIS/MNB (150 +/-), TF MERCURY/HQ&Sigs (200 +/-), ok don't slam my math this just estimates.  As we (TF ORION) are the largest, I get loads and loads, so far approx 65 different schools/churches/brownies/guides/4h club etc have sent bulk mailings.  Not to mention the 100's of individual letters from Canadians  

So tips on mailing:

1.  well if you are sending on behalf of an organization please include a covering letter, ie from the teacher, leader etc - make sure you itdentify your organization and a complete mailing address - we will write back!  The BG trys to send an "official" letter back to the various orgs to acknowledge that yes we received the letters and to say thank you!  I then distribute the letters to the various companies which are outside the wire but love to get mail any chance they can.  

2.  I do sort through them all...sigh, not all letters received are in support of the troops.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions but please do not send it in a letter to a troop who has been away from his family and living in VERY harsh and dangerous conditions, they don't need that.  YES I have voted myself protector of "my boys and girls" outside the wire.  Glad to say out of the hundreds we've recieved letters of those type have been few and far between.

3.  Don't be disappointed if you don't recieve a reply, there is a war going on out there, although not all the troops can write back it's a huge morale boost.  Warm fuzzies in an envelope!

4.  Last but not least - don't send chocolate - Easter was great and as much as we all love goodies, well it was 43 C here today and can make for some messy packages  ;D

So right at this moment I have three boxes of letters/cards etc sitting at my feet ready to go out!  Keep up the good work Canada and Auriele    good job-great cause.  Love from the sandbox - Kandahar


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