Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve been able to give 40,000 of the most vulnerable children who escaped ISIS boots to protect their feet from raw sewage and the mud, rain, and snow of winter. Still more boots are on the way. This has been an inspiring grassroots effort … there are the middle schoolers in Mississippi who raised $1,200 in a day, the American woman in Italy who donated to buy 1,200 pairs of boots, the church in Milwaukee who collected $1,500, the K-8 school kids in Maryland who collected enough loose change in a “Penny War” to purchase boots for 173 Iraqi children. To me, you all represent what is best about our country and our values. You are the real spirit of America. The Spirit of America field team has been on the ground in northern Iraq every couple of weeks since this project began in October – coordinating distribution and personally putting boots on young refugees’ feet. You have probably seen this story about our efforts on CBS This Morning. We’ve all heard about ISIS and their horrific acts. I can think of no better way to counter that brutality, to show the best of humanity to those who need it most, than by putting your generosity into action. It is very moving to see one of my US military veteran teammates take a frightened child, put her on his lap, carefully brush off her dirty bare feet, and put on a pair of new rubber boots provided by one of you. One of our supporters referred to us as “hulks of servicemen,” a turn of phrase I’m not at all unhappy about. Two of us measure 6 ft. 6 inches. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for joining our team! Warmest regards, Isaac Eagan SoA Field Ops Manager