The Pittsburgh Inn Supplies for Our Soldiers

My mission; To Thank, encourage and ensure that our Brave Service Men and Women have all the supplies they so desperately need! Make sure they know that they are not forgotten!

About 14 years ago, I began sending cards and letters of encouragement to our troops and soon boxes followed. In 2007, my husband and I bought a small family restaurant, The Pittsburgh Inn. The first thing I did was start my “Walls of Honor” in our front lobby, a tribute to all our brave service men and women. It now contains about 1,900 soldiers. With new pictures came new addresses including my son’s, who has been deployed four times. Once I adopt a soldier, I send them packages until they return home (6 months to 16 months).

It became so much more than just encouraging words. There are a lot of basic items that our troops could not get, so in 2010, I decided to host “Support our Troop Week” the week of September 11. The Erie Times News published an article about my “Walls of Honor” and “Support our Troop Week” with a list of items I was collecting. We offered a free appetizer to anyone who brought in an item, which most people declined. I wasn’t sure how Erie would respond. The day the article was published, a week before the official start to “Support our Troop Week,” amazing things began to happen! People began dropping off bags and boxes of much needed supplies and cash for postage. I was paying most of the postage, $20.00 per box, myself. Veterans from every war stopped in just to say “thank you,” and I received phone calls from dozens of people who wanted to help. A 6 year old boy walked up to the bar at the Inn with a $20 in his hand-he told me his grandma gave it to him to do with whatever he liked. He asked me to use it to send a box to a soldier because he saw me on TV helping the soldiers. I could not send boxes to so many without the overwhelming support from our community. I receive hundreds of heartfelt e-mails and letters of thanks from my soldiers, which are displayed on the fireplace at the Inn for all to read. They are so thankful not only for the supplies I send but to know we care & that “they are not forgotten.”

The very best part of supporting the troops is getting to meet them when they return home and hundreds have stopped in to just say thank you. I could not be prouder of my community, my son & our military. It is the land of the free because of all those who serve. The Brave. I will continue to send boxes until they all come home.

A Very Proud Army Mom,

Robin Weunski