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1,100 care packages for troops sent
Volunteers in Simi help ship items to those in war zones
Photos by Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff Marine Cody Ratley, Paula Cornell and Marine Andy Kuether move packages to be mailed to Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are a lot of people who come from all over to help with our effort," Cornell said.
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For more information on For the Troops, call 818-262-7180 or visit http://www.ForTheTroops.us.
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More from Local NewsPaula Ploeger was leaving the bank Thursday morning when she saw a dozen uniformed young men handing hundreds of boxes fire-line-style into a post office truck in front of the For the Troops headquarters in Simi Valley.
The volunteer effort — the loading of care packages headed for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan — was enough to draw Ploeger into the temporary offices of the two-year-old charity.
"I'm excited," she said. "I just wanted to be a part of this."
Ploeger's son is in the Navy in Afghanistan and will be home on leave for Christmas. She handed organizer Paula Cornell $20. "This makes me feel good," Ploeger said.
The volunteers and community members have caused For the Troops to bloom large this year, Cornell said. "There are a lot of people who come from all over to help with our effort," she said.
Cornell and friend Janie Josephson started For the Troops as a way to help servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of their husbands are military veterans, and the wives wanted to help those who risk their lives overseas.
"It's important for us to know that they know they are in our hearts at this time," Josephson said. "It's important that they know when they open the packages that they are loved."
This week, about 800 packages were sent to individual troop members serving in the Middle East. Last month, almost 300 were sent, enabling Cornell and Josephson to meet their goal of 1,000 packages.
Each package is a Priority Mail box from the post office about the size of a large shoe box. The package contains toiletries, magazines, games, cotton swabs, hand wipes, gum, candy, snacks and small toys.
The toys will be passed on to local children where the troops are stationed. There are also letters written from area schoolchildren and caring adults.
"Dear American Soldier," wrote 8-year-old Craig, a third-grader at Katherine School in Simi. "Thank you for serving our country. Because of you, I could go to school and get an education. Thank you for keeping our country free. I hope you like what we're sending you."
Working year-round, organizers were allowed to move last month into a vacant storefront at Sycamore Plaza. It's the first time Cornell's garage has been empty in two years. But the storefront is available only until Jan. 15. Then a new location will have to be found.
Area Scout troops have rounded up tons of supplies for the care packages. Service clubs throughout east Ventura County have collected goods.
There are volunteers to sort the materials, pack the boxes and reach out to schools and other groups where help might be found.
Moorpark Realtor Bob Pratt became involved with For the Troops because it benefited those serving in war zones and is a local effort, he said.
"It's in our neighborhood. It's easier to connect with people when it's in our own backyard," Pratt said.
All money donated to the effort is used for postage. At $8.95 per box, it's a large expense for the charity, but at least the boxes don't need to be weighed, Cornell said.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Miller, a station commander at the Simi Valley Army recruitment office, said anytime a soldier far from home receives a care package, even from a stranger, it helps.
"It's a taste of home," he said. "It leaves you speechless, and it's overwhelming."
— Jake Finch's e-mail address is alljake@hotmail.com.
Posted by surfmedic91 on December 14, 2007 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How about a "support the troops" march down Main St. in Ventura instead of the hippies and their anti-government campaign.
Posted by cassandra on December 14, 2007 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I note that all the Republican candidates want the military to have more money, despite its accounting for a little over half the budget as it is. (One needs to look in the nooks and crannies of the budget to discover this as much of it is carefully hidden e.g. nuclear weapons in the energy budget, and trust funds are used to exaggerate domestic spending.)
Surely with so much money, the troops are well cared for?
Wrong.
Take a look at how ordinary fighters are faring. The military is not the troops. This administration does not care a bit about the non-rich.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/s...
Posted by christafrankmiller on December 14, 2007 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I AGREE SURFMEDIC!!!
I will be there- let me know when and where!! : ) I am a proud military wife and am so tired of the hippies and such protesting!! Im not going to say anymore than that because I get VERY heated over this subject!!
Thanks to those that do things like this to support our troops- dont forget their families also- they suffer almost as much as the troops!
God Bless Our Troops and God Bless America!!
Posted by surfmedic91 on December 14, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
cassandra, the troops are being supported by the military. What do you consider "ordinary fighters"? No troop in Iraq is "ordinary". Not everyone in Iraq is fighting. It takes more than 50% of the force there to support the effort from the bases and not directly in firefights or convoys experiencing IEDs and rocket attacks.
Posted by surfmedic91 on December 14, 2007 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
cassandra, I also suggest looking into the US civilian contractor in Iraq, KBR, and what they are doing with the millions they are given. They have been given a lot of money to do work that has never been completed.
The care packages being sent to Iraq mean the soldiers get a little something from home and don't have to spend their hard earned money on things like toiletries that are often in short supply.
Posted by cassandra on December 14, 2007 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And that is just the surface of the corruption of privatized services. Halliburton or its subsidiaries scandals are legend. Blackwater thugs make 2 to 3 times at least what our enlisted people do with no accountability for their actions. And some of their actions are very bad indeed.
Care packages show a real emotional support for troops, and they are great. My comment was not directed at them. And I'm probably using the term military more broadly than you including all funding under the rubric of "defense" A care package is not going to prevent a vet's suicide however.
By ordinary I mean lower ranks, lots of risk, lots of privation, not much to say about any of it. And what about follow up when they return? Check out the link.
I am so sick of politicians beating the support-the-troops drum and siphoning off funds to profiteers who are connected to the administration as campaign contributors--like Blackwater's Prince, for example.
And decent after care is something they have to struggle for. Some are still waiting for the government to assume responsibility for agent orange after effects decades after exposure. And as for depleted uranium's effects? Check out the link.
The troops are getting screwed and so are the taxpayers. And oh, yeah, those Iraqi are not faring too well either.
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