"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must,like men,undergo the fatigue of supporting it."--Thomas Paine
I "stopped by" the "Ready Room" today ( a little U.S. Navy aviation terminology there) to see how we're doing on this project.This is a project that's being self funded by scroll saw artists around the world to honor Allied service members who have fallen in the Iraq/Afghanistan War.
I am proud and honored to be a member of this group of artists!
Below is a copy of our press release that is being used to spread the word.Please feel free to download a copy of this and present it to your local media.
We have very strict quality control measures in place on this project.
At the end of this post I have attached one of the portraits that I have cut for this project,along with the original photo for comparison.
For the privacy of the families , I have omitted the names.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From: Scroll Saw Portraits Group
Contact: Gary Browning, 717-593-0648 after 6 pm Eastern Time
Portrait Freedom Underway
Members of the MSN Scroll Saw Portraits group with membership from all over the United States, Canada and beyond are embarking on a huge project where they will create a custom wooden portrait of every fallen soldier of the Afghan/Iraqi war and donate it to the families.
Their goal is to create and cut a wooden portrait of every fallen soldier. It is something they want to do to show their support of our military personnel and to honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms. There is no charge to the family for requesting a portrait.
The Scroll Saw Portraits group consists of over 2600 scroll saw artists and hobbyist worldwide. There are those who will design a pattern from a photograph of each soldier and then pass it to another member who will cut the pattern in wood using their scroll saw, frame it and send it to the family.
Their biggest challenge right now is getting photographs to work with. “We are appealing to individual family members or a contact person from each military base that can provide us with photographs of our fallen soldiers,” says Gary Browning, manager of MSN Scroll Saw Portraits group.
They expect their Portrait Freedom project to take some time, depending on the participation of family members and contact points. Their main concentration is on our US Military personnel but will include fallen soldiers of the coalition forces as well.
If you are a family member or know of a family member who has lost a son, daughter, husband or wife in the Afghan/Iraqi conflict, you can request information by contacting PortraitFreedom@hotmail.com. Due to the magnitude of this project, portraits are only available to the immediate family of the Fallen Hero. Each family will receive 2 portraits.
Military bases are also encouraged to get in contact with them if they can help with gathering photographs of personnel they have lost from their base. A contact person who can get the word out about the Portrait Freedom project to families who may not be aware of the project and who can gather photographs and coordinate getting the completed portrait to the families would be an immense help to the project.
For more information on Project Freedom, visit their web site at http://groups.msn.com/SSPSoldierPortraits/homepage
