Scholarship Winner heads to Georgia Tech

Congratulations to Jacob Godfrey as he heads to Georgia Tech next week. Jacob won the Capt. Matthew Freeman Memorial Scholarship for school year 2010-2011. Good luck in all you do, Jacob!

Mission for Vacation Bible School

Richmond Hill United Methodist Church chose the Freeman Project: Pens and Paper for Peace as their mission for vacation Bible school this summer. The 269 children and their families donated close to $800 and over 300 lbs of supplies! Lisa Freeman, Matthew’s mother,  spoke the last day about Matthew Freeman’s participation in this very church. He was a child here, a youth who helped with the VBS and took what he learned into the world as evidenced by his last words to her to get a fund raiser going to get school supplies over as quickly as possible. “Mom, the children would rather have pens and paper than food and water”.

Thank you RHUMC!

To Honor Matthew

A display has been set up at the new Bryan County building off of Capt. Matthew Freeman Dr. in Richmond Hill showing Matthew’s life. Stop by and see what Jim Leahy has put together so far. If anyone has any memorabilia or pictures of Matthew from high school, we would love to hear from you. It is a work in progress.

 

 

An article appeared in the Bryan County News last month in anticipation of the display.

SSG Josef Rodriguez

Our soldiers and Marines have hearts of gold! Look at what SSG Josef Rodriguez has done. His efforts to help the children of Afghanistan may change the way the people view us. Very little can mean so much!

Thank you Josef for all you are doing!

Carol Megathlin with the Adopt-a-Soldier program has been instrumental in getting the soldiers connected to the Freeman Project. Thank you to all of you Patriots.

Summer Update

Hi Everyone!

Above is a picture of a collection taking place in Pensacola, FL at The Crossings apartment community. The generous owners have donated a month’s free rent as an incentive  for people to donate to the project. Each large flat rate box or a $15 donation earns 1 chance for a drawing. It has started off gangbusters! I look forward to seeing the final outcome. Follow along as we see how the local press follows the efforts.

We have a new logo designed by Cesar Arocha. Look for it on on t-shirts and banners for our upcoming races.

Team Freeman formed quickly with 20 runners for the Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon, November 6, 2011. Each team member is raising money for the project. You can donate online at www.FreemanProject.org to the runners and follow Bryan Lewis as he gives online training tips. The team of Kelly Meyer, Theresa Freeman and Bryan Lewis have coordinated with my webmaster, Southpoint Media, to make it easy to contribute and follow along. The marathon gives the project an opportunity to get some great advertising.

We’re also in the process of getting sponsors for The Captain Matthew Freeman 5K Run for Peace, Veterans Day 11/11/11. This is a family event with  the run going through our beautiful JF Gregory Park in Richmond Hill. There will be breakfast and lunch offered at the Richmond Hill City Center as well as Inflatables  near the playground for the children. The race will begin at 9:00 and end up at the Veterans Memorial for our annual program. Contact us if you are interested in being a sponsor at www.FreemanProject.org or sign up for the race at our site or on  Active.com.

At the end of May, Blessed Sacrament School in Savannah, GA donated about 3/4 ton of supplies to the project. Volunteers helped package these and Coastal EMC picked them up from Richmond Hill and took them to Hunter Army Airfield where they were taken to Afghanistan and given to humanitarian units to distribute to schools.

I’m looking forward to a busy Fall and hope to talk to WTOC, WJCL-WTGS, WSAV, FOX, Bill Edwards – WTKS-AM 1290, about the exciting things happening in the project.

Francis Grace, Mike Huckabee, Sean Hannity, Fox and Friends and others may enjoy learning more.

Sincerely,

Lisa Freeman – Gold Star Mother of Captain Matthew Freeman, USMC

 

SSG Jason Dalke Memorial Energy Adventure Challenge June 4, 2011

SSg Jason Dalke Memorial Adventure Challenge

Consider getting a team for this great adventure honoring SSG Jason Dalke this weekend at beautiful Ft McCallister in Richmond Hill, GA. Contact Energy Oasis for more details

Busy Months

It’s been awhile, but so many things have happened!

On April 29th, I was invited to the Colony Bank across from Walmart on Ogeechee Drive where they collected supplies and donations totaling over $1000! They had a cookout with free lunch to whoever stopped by. What a wonderful warm and caring group of people!

I met Carol Magathlin, a local columnist and organizer of the Adopt-a-Soldier program in the Savannah area. What a wonderful patriot and now my friend. She has been instrumental in connecting the Freeman Project with the military in Afghanistan. I now will know here the supplies are most needed and what military transportation can get it there. This was the final missing piece to our puzzle of getting large shipments over there with little cost to the program.

I also met Bob Carlysle through Carol. A veteran of WWII and in the battle of Okinawa at age 18, he told me wonderful stories of The Gold Star Ranch  here in Savannah (might have been the Gold Star Park Ranch). His grandfather opened it in honor of Gold Star mothers from WWI just south of DeRenne back in the 30′s. If anyone has stories or pictures of this ranch, I would love to hear them!

The Freeman Project really picked up steam in May. I spoke at Blessed Sacrament School on May 6th. They are using The Freeman Project as their service project this month. The chapel was packed with students, teachers, clergy and parents. What a welcoming school and such a warm feeling from everyone. I look forward to seeing them all again on June 3rd when they present me with supplies they’ve been collecting. I’ll get some pictures for all to see what incredible children go to this school.

I will also be picking up more supplies from Savannah Christian elementary school. I was so surprised to hear that they had continued to collect after their January service project. Thank you Staff and Students!

Bill Edwards invited me to speak on his program on the 17th of May to talk about the Project and the upcoming events. So many people are reached with Bill helping me out.

I also spoke on WJCL’s morning show about the upcoming events. WTOC put the events out on their blog. Thank you everyone.

Just what were these events? On May 18th, the Red Cross had a blood drive at Richmond Hill United Methodist Church in honor of Matthew. In addition to exceeding their goal of 30 donors (they had 33!), they collected supplies for the project. They filled an 18 gallon tub with over a 100 lbs of supplies! Thank you Richmond Hill! Again!

On May 19th I spoke to The Coastal Empire Association of Health Underwriters at their convention at Armstrong Center in Savannah, GA. They not only donated generously with supplies, but handed me a check for $343.00 that will help with expenses to have the supplies sent USPS to small outposts. I reconnected with former students and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Thank you so much Eddie Wilson and organizers!

On May 13th, I gave Jacob Godfrey, a senior at Richmond Hill High School, the Captain Matthew Freeman Memorial Scholarship for 2011. I had the privilege of interviewing some remarkable young people who gave the entire interview team hope for a bright future. Congratulations Jacob!

God has blessed me with continuing support for the Freeman Project, www.FreemanProject.org. Thank you everyone.

I have seen heartwarming stories about our Gold Star families this Memorial Day weekend on shows such as Huckabee, Nancy Grace, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Thank you for continuing to educate the public on just what it means to be a Gold Star family. I continue to be amazed, after 10 years at war, how few people know what that means. Including the military!

Thank you everyone for your support! Help to continue to keep our men and women in Afghanistan safer through this project while encouraging education to the educationally starved children of Afghanistan.

Contact: www.FreemanProject.org

Gulfport HS

Here they go again.

My son, Captain Matthew Freeman, USMC, was killed in Afghanistan on Aug 7, 2009. His last words to me, an 8th grade teacher were “Mom. Can you get a fundraiser started to get school supplies over here. The kids would rather have pens and paper than food and water.” Two days later marines walked down my hall at school to tell me Matthew had been killed in a brave fire fight. A  month later I was approached to start a project in his name “The Capt. Matthew Freeman Project: Pens and Paper for Peace”. We launched the project Memorial Day 2010.

The first supplies made it to children through a Sgt Nicole Olcott in September 2010.

My daughter-in-law, Captain Theresa Freeman, MD, USAF, was now stationed in Keesler AFB as a surgery resident. She walked into the local HS, Gulfport HS, and said “My husband and I were President and Vice-President of our HS. I wondered if you’d like to do this project in his honor. 2 1/2 weeks later they invited her to a pep rally and presented her with 1 1/2 tons of school supplies!

Now we had to figure out what to do with this large amount of supplies. (See blog: 1 Hour- 53 Minute Miracle). We were able to transport these materials to Indiana to a military unit going over to do Humanitarian Missions and it didn’t cost us a cent due to the generosity of our local Coastal EMC and their affiliates.

Yesterday I received a call from Gulfport HS. They are dedicating the prom to The Project and are collecting supplies again. They are making my daughter-in-law and Matthew the Honorary King and Queen of prom!. My daughter and daughter-in-law plan to attend the prom to be able to thank them.

To date, almost 5 tons of supplies have been sent to soldiers and marines in Afghanistan.

See www.FreemanProject.org for more information and see video about Matthew and the start of the project.

Mike Huckaby and Bill O”Reilly, this deserves time on your shows.

Lake Mayer, Savannah Georgia, Wounded Warrior Fishing Tournament

Just a heads up. There is a fishing tournament to benefit the Wounded Warrior foundation on April 9th  from 7 am to 4 pm.

Looking forward to a great turnout!

Gulfport High School does it again! Gulfport, MS

I received a call from Gulfport High School this evening. In September 2010, they presented my daughter-in-law, Capt. Theresa Freeman, MD,USAF with 1 1/2 tons of school supplies at a pep rally. They have helped us again by collecting for the Junior/Senior Prom and having the freshman and sophomores compete in homerooms. They made my son, Capt. Matthew Freeman (KIA on Aug 7, 2009) and his wife Theresa, the official King and Queen of prom for 2011. What amazing students and staff!

We look forward to pictures of the collection and seeing the students at prom! Thank you Gulfport.

 

www.FreemanProject.org