December 27, 2007

Girl Scout Troop 1469 offers care and comfort to troops in Iraq

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

When the girls in Girl Scout Troop 1469 thought about a project to earn their Bronze Award, it was unanimous—they would collect items for Operation: Care and Comfort, a local organization that provides items for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Troop 1469 with the signs on boxes for donations they collected at Holy Spirit School. The girls, who live in Almaden Valley or Willow Glen include, back row from the left, Julie Dye, Tara Homara, Kathryn Kavanagh, Becky Rangel and Taylor Schmidt and front row, Taylor Rogers and Monika Devlin.
Troop 1469 and the packaged goods for Operation: Care and Comfort. From the left are Taylor Rogers, Kathryn Kavanagh, Becky Rangel, Julie Dye and Taylor Schmidt.
Troop 1469 excitedly receives military-dressed ducks from Operation: Care and Comfort co-founder Julie DeMaria [upper far right] for a job well done. Photos courtesy of Sue Rogers

The troop, whose members include Julie Dye, Monika Devlin, Tara Homara, Kathryn Kavanagh, Becky Rangel, Taylor Rogers and Taylor Schmidt, started a drive to collect goods from Holy Spirit School families for the military care package program Operation: Care and Comfort. Under the team leadership of Sue Rogers and Joanna Schmidt, they collected coffee, cookies, candy, crackers, gum, hot chocolate, beef jerky, toiletries, hand sanitizers, socks and other needed items for soldiers in Iraq.

“It is always so much fun to work with the Girl Scouts to support our troops,” said Operation: Care and Comfort co-founder Julie DeMaria. “Whether they are making gifts or writing letters, collecting items and assembling care packages or selling tens of thousands of boxes of cookies for us to send to our troops, they respond with a level of enthusiasm and dedication that should be admired. Troop 1469 has represented the Girl Scouts well!”

Operation: Care and Comfort is an all-volunteer program providing support and comfort to “adopted” units of deployed U.S. military service members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict regions in which the U.S. military is located. Working within the community and through donations received from all over the country, they assemble and ship care packages to the adopted units every month until the service people return home. They currently support more than 200 units on a monthly basis.

DeMaria visited Troop 1469 and explained to the 11-year-old Girl Scouts about Operation: Care and Comfort. The talk started them off and the girls began their project by creating signs to hang at Holy Spirit School that would create awareness of the military’s need. For more than a week, families brought in goods for the soldiers and Troop 1469 created cards to express their wishes for the men and women in the armed forces to come home safely.

“I’m so proud of the girls and the selflessness they learned while completing their Bronze Award,” said troop leader Sue Rogers. “Julie DeMaria explained to them that some of the soldiers aren’t much older than they are and miss their parents very much. I think this really struck a cord with them. They felt so good to send things that made them [the soldiers] feel more at home in Iraq.”

Troop 1469 received mountains of items from the Holy Spirit School community, which they brought to Operation: Care and Comfort to package. Already, they have received thank-you notes from the appreciative men and women.

“Thank you for the goodies and the notes,” wrote one soldier who would be home in Washington state for the holidays. “We enjoyed reading the notes while eating some of the treats. Troop 1469 rocks!”

Troop 1469 received the Bronze Award, the highest honor Girl Scouts can receive, for their efforts. But more importantly, they learned of the war and the people fighting it so far away. They put names and faces on the soldiers who serve our country.

“I really feel good about what we did for the soldiers,” said Troop 1469 member Taylor Rogers. “It was great to help them because they are helping us. It was really fun, too.”

For more information on Operation: Care and Comfort [OCC], visit www.operationcareandcomfort.org. Donations may be sent to OCC, 2392 Walden Square, San Jose, CA 95124.