Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1389434
"Good evening, I have received my guitar today. I am so excited to learn a new skill. I am very grateful for you and your incredible group of individuals. Thank you for all that you do, and I will continue to spread the love you have given to the troops." "Myra, I have just received my guitar! Thank you very much, as well as the community that was a huge part in this. Words can't describe how much I truly appreciate what you have all done. I love the guitar and all of the wonderful equipment that came with it. The letters and cards were very nice to receive as well. I shared them with my friends and co-workers. Once again, I want to express my gratitude toward this organization for all it does. I have shared your name and mission with anyone and everyone who will listen." "Good a ernoon, I'm currently on a rotation to (an undisclosed location) and I haven't been able to find any places on my base with access to a guitar. I love to play and I'd like to get more information on how to possibly get a guitar or two delivered to my base for myself and fellow troops that share my interest in playing. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, have a great day." "I was looking on the camp's buy/sell/trade page for a guitar when I was notified of your organization. I have never played before but have always wanted to learn to play, and what better time than when I have down time on my deployment. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated and thank you for all you do in helping the troops out." NOTES OF THIS KIND arrive in Myra Foskey's email inbox multiple times a week. The messages speak to the impact Hearts to Heroes Inc. is having on U.S. Forces across the globe. Myra Foskey, who lives in Cordele with her husband, Harry, is a Robins Air Force Base retiree and the woman behind the nonprofit group Hearts to Heroes. In 2007, Myra and her fellow base employees began sending care packages filled with food, toiletries, magazines, candy, chips, gum and letters to troops stationed overseas. In 2010, Myra applied for and received nonprofit status for her organization. Soon a er, she and her husband plus two other base employees, Eddie Icard and Dan English, decided to "branch out." A Marine they worked with was being deployed to Afghanistan without his guitar. Eddie and Dan are guitar-playing men, so Eddie thought, "Why not ship the guitar to him?" So they did. Guitar No. 1 went out March 11, 2011. Guitar No. 2 went out April 7, 2011, to an Air Force member in Iraq. As word spread, requests for guitars became overwhelming, and so the journey began for Hearts to Heroes Inc.'s Guitars for Troops program. Up until this year, Myra and her team continued to include care packages along with the guitars, but the organization decided to focus their time and energy on sending only guitars – and occasionally other musical instruments. Now, a decade since their first guitar was delivered, the demand for guitars far exceeds the supply and finances to support the group's mission. "We are very close to shipping our 250th guitar – in addition to a violin, a banjo, two bass guitars, a ukulele and a clarinet through the years," Eddie said. "Each guitar comes with case, strap, picks, tuner, capo, string winder and polishing cloth, plus a letter from Hearts to Heroes Inc. Packed into a 20-by-8-by-50 guitar box and protected with packing peanuts. It's then shipped off to boost the morale of one soldier and ultimately, many soldiers." The guitars and other instruments are sometimes purchased, sometimes donated, but, as Eddie said, "always happily received regardless of their condition." "Originally there were four of us who worked on the guitars, with Mickey Amberg having a luthier workshop in his garage. F O R O U R HEARTS HEROES LOCAL NONPROFIT SPREADS LOVE AND MUSIC TO TROOPS STATIONED OVERSEAS BY JANE WINSTON N ▶ ◀ 66 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2021