Our Stacks program gets out and about year-round. Summer is no different. A number of our Stacks put on some great events in the last couple of months.
What is the Stacks program? A Stack is a group of volunteers who act as a kind of "boots on the ground" representing Stack Up as they go out and do good within their communities. Our Stacks put on events in their local areas that range from game nights to cleanups, food drives, or hosting booths at a local event.
Thinking about joining your local Stack or starting your own? Open up the link here, and leave it open while you read up on what our Stacks are about. Once your mind is made up fill out the form at the bottom of that page.
The opportunities to volunteer and do something good out there are boundless!
Dayton
We were warmly welcomed by Dragon's Guildhall in Beavercreek for our June event to hold a D&D day at their shop. We had three separate tables, each running their own unique one-shot adventure. On top of that, we also provided a giveaway at each table, where players all rolled a Stack Up D20 and the highest roll won that D20 die and a $25 Dragon's Guildhall gift card!
Players had the option to sign up for either a level 5, level 8, or a prodigious level 16 adventure. We rolled out signups a couple of weeks early, and by the time the event arrived, all tables were fully booked!
Our event at Dragon's Guildhall was one of our best yet! They were very welcoming of our group, we all had a great time, and had several new individuals express interest in our Stack! Looking forward to working with DGH again in the near future.
New Zealand
In May, a supply crate was dispatched from The Stack Up warehouses in Florida, bound for New Zealand. Covid-19 has meant delays to global shipping, but by mid-July via New York and Tokyo, Japan, it arrived on time and on target for the Auckland-based Stack members to be able to hand-deliver this sweet, sweet bundle of joy to the ship!
Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship Manuwanui is a Navy Dive and Hydrography vessel recently acquired by the Royal New Zealand Navy. Since the vessel entered into service, the crew has been busy. They have been releasing capability, have taken part in the recent multinational exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), and were able to deliver Covid-19 relief supplies to the Pacific Island nation of Tonga… contactlessly!!!! The ship was currently in port undergoing a scheduled maintenance period in dry dock, where the whole ship from top to bottom was visible in all its glory!
Onboard we were met by the Whole Ships Coordinator, the Senior embarked sailor. The ship was a busy hive of activity, but we were hosted by several members of the crew. It was a great opportunity to talk about Stack Up and find out about how they were all going. The team was pretty surprised to get such a great gift out of the blue.
It was so great to get to hand-deliver a Supply Crate. A huge thank you has to go out to Grimli, the super awesome Twitch Streamer who provided the fundraising to get the crate.
A note about masks (or lack thereof). The Covid-19 situation in New Zealand is Alert Level 1 (the lowest) with no community transmission, so masks are not needed in public. If any of you classy Red Shirt Raiders are out and about in areas where there is Covid-19, then please mask up, sanitise your hands and surfaces you touch, and keep a contact trace log. They are small bugbears to deal with daily, but it’s been worth it in NZ to keep Covid-19 out of the community!
Delaware County
The Delaware County Stack teamed up with the students at Coebourn Elementary School to create a variety of cards for the patients at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Over the course of May and June, our Stack members and the students in the K-5 school created over 500 handmade cards to ship to the patients at the medical center. These cards included a combination of birthday cards for the staff to distribute to patients on their birthdays and "no-reason" cards - general appreciation for all these Veterans have done for us.
This was a wonderful experience for us, as well as for the kids who helped out, to slow down and do something creative to show our love and appreciation to those who have served our country. We're looking forward to doing this again throughout the course of the year!
Chattanooga
The Chattanooga Stack decided that for this month, we are going to give 200 hospitalized Veterans cards as a way of saying thank you. The cards are currently on their way to the Murfreesboro VA Hospital, where they will be given to Veterans who have to stay overnight for the various surgeries that take place there.
The funding and design for the cards were provided by the Stack's members. We wanted something simple while avoiding it feeling like a cheap advertisement. Members did sign each card by hand. The cards were not sealed due to concerns of spreading germs. Luke Soriano, our newest active member, is cited in the packaging and delivery of the cards.
The cards were delivered to the volunteer office at the Chattanooga VA Clinic, where they will find their final home with a soldier, sailor, airmen, or marine. We hope this will bring cheer to a Veteran who is currently in pain and receiving treatment.
Holloman AFB
The city of Alamogordo held their Sounds of Freedom event. This was a music festival with adult beverages and a fireworks show at the end.
We purchased booth space, and our friend Josh over at Keep Alamogordo Beautiful ensured that we got premium booth space right in the front at the stage! The info booth was successful, and community engagement was high! We were able to reach a good number of people, showing folks all the different ways they can support Stack Up! Fundraising at this event brought in about $55 for the Stack's Call to Arms campaign.
Everyone had a great time, and again, we were able to reach a good portion of our local community. We're hoping we hear back from some of the folks who came by so we can grow our local community.
