I gotta say that this post makes you look just a little bit ungrateful for the more than $600K you were able to raise. I know a lot of folks in non-profit organizations, not the least of which are churches in my community, and they are all facing drops in donations. None of them can blame Michael Jackson's passing. All of them point to the economy. Times are tough and people are not as free with their money as they once were.

Furthermore, as someone who watched some of the streaming video of the event, and hearing that Melanie Morgan state over and over again that one could donate "any amount", I was very disappointed to find out that you required a minimum donation. I have been out of work since last October, am having to declare bankruptcy, and have extremely limited income (from unemployment). I was hoping to give what I felt I could afford. Your site, however, required a minimum donation of sponsoring one care package. I would be willing to bet that I saw at least one other comment in the Twitter feed from another person who was wondering how to donate something other than the minimum $25. I wonder how many $5, $10 or $15 donations were lost because your site required a minimum $25.

I know how important those care packages are, having served in the Navy during the first Gulf War. It was like a little Christmas whenever I got a care package from home delivered to the ship while we were underway. I look forward to helping you out as much as I can when I regain a steady paycheck. Your group and the brave men & women serving overseas are in my prayers.

Why you did not raise as much money as last year may very well have been the Media diversion of the day. I would also like to give you a personal reason why I did not contribute directly this year. Last year I heard about your great cause and knew I had to get involved and follow through with a desire I had to help out those that serve this country. I had no knowledge of any other way to send packages to our troops serving. So I was proud to support your organization.

After this I knew I had to do more for our troops and did some research on the web to find out if it was possible to send directly to troops that were deployed. I was able to find a site that provided contact information of service members along with specific needs. Due to Your effort last year I have sent many packages to our troops. If it was not for your efforts and your commitment many soldiers would not have some of the specific equipment that they needed.

I cannot thank you enough for getting me involved in sending items to our troops and the joy that it gives me for doing this. On occasion I have heard back from those deployed and a common statement is "It was just like Christmas."

This is the Christmas that You and Your group has given them.

Thank You