3 -Cent Gold

by Elizabeth Applebaum

.

Gilt Guide Editor

An Army sergeant creates a program that links
citizens back home with U.S. servicemen.

hen Sgt. Juan
Salas returned
from military
service in Iraq,
he remembered

Juan Salas, founder of the
program, with volunteers.
Salas said letters he received
while in Iraq were "like gold."

the strangers.
During his 14 months of Army
duty, Salas received many letters of
support not only from family, but
also men and women he had never
met. Each letter, he said, was "like
a piece of gold."
Now Salas is helping others send
"pieces of gold" to the more than
175,000 American troops on duty
throughout the world.
Working with Manhattanville
College in Purchase, N.Y., where
he is a student, Salas is the founder
of My Soldier. Through the pro-
gram, a family or individual
"adopts" a soldier. This includes

writing — letters or e-mails — to the
soldier and sending small packages
from time to time. In turn, partici-
pants receive a bracelet, which they
agree to wear until the serviceman
or woman returns home. Usually,
soldiers will respond to letters,
Salas says.
To sign up, or for more informa-
tion about the My Soldier pro-
gram, go to www.mysoldier.com .
Here, you can receive the name of
a soldier, learn how to mail a pack-
age to a soldier, how children can
help, and letter-writing guidelines.
You also may purchase a My
Soldier hat, for a $10 donation,
through the site.
My Soldier has no political agen-
da; its only goal is to offer encour-
agement to men and women serv-
ing in the Armed Forces, Salas says.

JN GIFT GUIDE I • NOVEMBER 2005 • 29