‘Support’ plates benefit soldiers, families

    While three Maine Army National Guard units gear up and train for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan next year, their family members are running the risk of losing support.     "We support our troops" license plates has generated close to $50,000 to help Soldiers families pay car-repair bills, purchase heating oil or help mitigate the cost of unforeseen emergencies while their loved one is deployed.
    The law requires that the Secretary of State must discontinue sales of the plate if 4000 are not sold by Nov. 1. In order to keep the specialty plates and the direct support to the troops, the State needs to sell roughly 100 more by the end of November.
    In early 2010, nearly 50 percent of the Maine Army National Guard will be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The units include the 133rd Engineer Battalion, 1136th Transportation Company, and the 172nd Mountain Infantry Company.
    The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles and town offices sell the plates, and are available regardless of when your registration expires, or by mailing a copy of your registration and a check for $20, $45 for vanity, made payable to: Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Specialty Plate Clerk, 29 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333.
    One hundred percent of the revenue received goes to help Military members and their families in times of emergencies during the deployment cycle.