This past February three socially minded seniors, Ryan Brown and Nick Stewart of University of Arizona and Brock Ameele of Oregon State University, launched a campaign to support our troops stationed in Iraq called Thankful for Freedom.

"With graduation rapidly approaching and the 'real world' ever looming, a longing and urge arose to address current issues--not to just talk about them but to actually make a difference and do something," Ameele, Brown and Stewart explained on thankfulforfreedom.com.

Without expressing their personal feelings towards the war in Iraq, the trio has set out to build their own million-member army--outfitting them in olive green shirts with a yellow ribbon on the front. They also aim to raise $5 million to be shared among Disabled American Veterans, Give 2 the Troops, Hire Heroes USA, and the United Services Organization.

"It's a really hot topic," Brown said. "We do not have a stance on the war. The point is to support the people who are supporting us."

With the help of Facebook and Myspace viral marketing campaigns, they hoped to reach their goals by December 31, 2008. But Thankful For Freedom was derailed when they sold out of their initial 100-shirt inventory in one week. When the founders tried to re-order the shirts, Nodinx, the shirt supplier, upped the price, from $4.45/shirt to $7.

"We liked to see the early adoption, and were prepared to make the next steps for the shirts to move quicky," Brown said. "However, we weren't prepared like we thought when we ran into the supplier problem."

The original agreement allowed them to sell shirts for $15, $5 of which would go to the aforementioned charities, provide free shipping to customers, and break even without pocketing a penny. The higher price requested by the Oregon-based supplier broke the budget. 

The trio is trying to reach an agreement with Nodinx, and is making progress, but their hectic school schedules and planning for life after college has slowed the process.

Even with the unexpected delay in distribution, Thankful for Freedom's message continues to spread and get positive feedback, via thankfulforfreedom.com and Facebook.

"Thanks for the web site," US Army member Isaiah posted on the feedback section of thanfulforfreedom.com "Sometimes I think people take us for granted, but then web sites like this make the tough times worth it."

"The whole goal is to symbolize support," Brown said. "Like, if everyone wore the shirts on Fridays it would be a huge 'thank you' for what the troops are doing."

As soon as more shirts are ordered, the operation could get a big boost from celebrities.

"We've contacted Brett Favre and Matthew McConaughey," Brown said. "Brett Favre is an all-American quarterback with hometown values. Same with Matthew McConaughey. We support everything he promotes on J.K.Livin."

McConaughey could be the first actor to join the Thankful for Freedom army. Two months ago, Ameele, Brown and Stewart sent his manager some shirts and are anticipating a picture of McConaughey wearing one for the web site.

"We were simply hoping through the excitement conveyed by talking to his manager at J.K. Livin about our campaign and the interest in the shirts, that they would hopefully send a picture in return," Brown said.

Attracting celebrities to their cause will certainly help spread the word, but Brown thinks it will take about two years to sell a million shirts. By then the war in Iraq could be over, but the founders of Thankful for Freedom have no plans to quit their campaign.

"The war isn't the reason we are doing this," Brown said. "Even if there was no war going on right now, we still owe gratitude and thanks as a nation to those who allow us to live our lives in comfort, peace and prosperity. "