Blackfive has a post up today about a email he received.
Received this email today:
I had the opportunity to find out how poorly Marines are outfitted to fight a war. Not only do the soldiers have to buy their own uniform and socks, but they also have to buy any additional gear they might need. Last deployment, Parke had to buy about $1,800 in additional equipment. I refuse to let him pay for it out of his own pocket. So far this year, I had to buy him a side arm because they did not have enough to issue. Fortunately for Parke, I have the means to help him. Unfortunately for a majority of the troops, they don’t have the means. I have spoken, on numerous occasions, with a father of a Marine in Parke’s Company. He has taken the initiative to form a non-profit charitable organization( in Texas) to provide needed supplies to Parke’s Weapons Co. while they are deployed in Iraq. The name of the organization is Supplied To Survive.
The father is working directly with the Commanding Officer, who has given him a list of supplies that are needed. The C.O. is making sure the supplies that are bought (or donated) are shipped directly to the troops in Weapons Co. As this continues to grow, the organization will supply as many other Marines in the 3rd Battalion-4th Marines. Please take a couple of minutes and go to the Website. The website is www.suppliedtosurvive.org. Steve Shulz is the founder and just informed me today that they shipped $19,000 worth of equipment on January 3rd. We need about $250,000 worth of equipment (take a look at the supply list) to adequately supply Weapons Co. If you would like to help, please visit the website or call me or you can send any contributions to me (make check out to Supplied To Survive) and I will make sure it gets to Steve. It is tax-deductible. When the company’s deployment is over, the equipment will be left for the incoming units. Everybody wins.
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So I checked the website. Something smells funny here. I actually know Marines in the 3/4. I hadn’t heard anything about this before. And there isn’t a PayPal set up, yet? That takes five minutes.
You just send them a check? To Texas?
I looked at the supply list. Batteries, night scopes, etc. Most of their needs do seem legit to me. But how many GPSs does a company need? 32? That seems very, very extreme to me when every Marine can read a map.
There is no information on the site about being a 501(3)c non-profit organization so how are donations tax deductible? So my BS Detector is off the charts here, and I hope that I’m wrong. Can any of you help verify whether this is a legitimate effort or a scam?
If anyone know’s of a way to verify this company it would be appreciated.
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