Ukes For Troops

Hello, my name is Anita Coyoli-Cullen, and I am the proud mother of California Army National Guard, Sgt. Diane L. Gilliam.

In March of 2003 the war in Iraq started, and I was asked to become a Family Support Group Leader for the California Army National Guard, C Company, in Orange, California. While there I not only helped keep detailed contact records on each of the soldiers but we also took care of their families needs. We arranged Christmas Parties, Information Briefs, Deployment Events and Family Picnics. It was important that we keep the moral and the needs of the families in check while their loved ones were deployed.

In early August of 2003 Diane was deployed to Afghanistan as an interrogator. As her mother, all I could do was worry a lot, and send care packages. I found a special joy in sending packages not only to Diane but to her fellow comrades too. I would contact companies on-line to purchase an item for Diane, and then I would encourage the company to donate some items to the other members of her unit. They would always oblige my request.

On November 23, 2003, Diane was involved in a helicopter crash near Kabul, Afghanistan, where she was injured and 5 of her comrades were killed. Only 8 members of that 13-member crew survived that flight.

In December of 2003 Diane was sent home to the United States for further medical treatment and in May 2005 was given an Honorable Discharge due to her injuries.

All the while I kept involved with sending care packages to our troops and helping to arrange events for both the Marines at Camp Pendleton and the California Army National Guard Soldiers at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base.

Since my husband is Hawaiian I had also joined a local Hawaiian Civic Club, Ainahau O Kaleponi. This caused me to become involved me in the Hawaiian community and their culture.

Around January 2005 my good friend, Shirley Orlando, came to me with an idea to send ukuleles to the troops. Shirley owns a small Hawaiian Music Store in Huntington Beach, California. Although Shirley has never been to the Islands herself, she has always loved everything Hawaiian.

My husband plays the guitar and ukulele and so I knew just how beautiful the ukulele music was. I had just read an article about the Hawaii Army National Guard, 29th Support Battalion, in the Hawaiian magazine “Ohana”. The guard were being deployed to Iraq and I thought, “Who better to send ukuleles to then the Hawaiians?”

We contacted the editor of Ohana magazine to help get us started on our adventure, but it was May of 2005 before our first ukulele was sent off. We mailed off six soprano Mahalo ukuleles to Colonel Norman Saito, of the 29th Support Battalion, Hawaiian Army National Guard.

The response was overwhelming. The soldiers wrote us emails and sent us photos thanking us for the ukuleles and asking if we could send them some more. So we did.

The word got around and the donations started coming in, and so have the requests from all lines of the military asking for more ukuleles. To date we have sent out over 1300 ukuleles.

I am writing to you today because I have more requests than I have money to buy ukuleles and I hope that you will be able to help us out.

All it takes is $25 to send out 1 ukulele along with a songbook and a tuner. The ukulele is valued at $75, but I get them at a discount. We also send out 10 ukuleles for each 1 requested, this is so that other soldiers in the unit can also learn how to play along.

I am willing to come out to your club or group, if local, and make a presentation if you think you can help with this cause. There are pictures and emails on my website along the address of where to send a donation to.

http://www.ukesfortroops.com/


Thank you for you time and consideration,

Anita Coyoli-Cullen
Co-founder