January 21, 2011
Herndon, Virginia –Herndon members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teamed up with Operation Support Our Troops, Inc. to send Valentine packages to members of the U.S. armed forces deployed in remote areas of Afghanistan to remind them that they are supported and appreciated at home.
The two groups came together through a chance meeting at the local Costco in the fall when Nancee McAteer, vice president of Operation Support Our Troops inc., met Claudia Gibb, the president of the Oakton area 1,250 member LDS Relief Society, the women’s service organization of the church. When Nancee described her project, Claudia said, “I know a lot of women in our church that would love to help you.”
Nancee took her up on the offer, and Claudia made a few phone calls, and quickly assembled a team of local women eager to help. They gathered at Nancee’s home in Clifton with other members of the OSOT of the northern Virginia area, and packed, organized, and shipped over 1,200 pounds of holiday surprises to troops in remote locations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nancee said the church also donated about $1300 to the Christmas project.
McAteer received many thank you letters from soldiers who excitedly watched boxes full of Christmas goodies drop out of the sky from a C-130 turboprop military transport.
Nancee’s current project is to send boxes of Valentines to the soldiers. So with the help members of the Herndon congregation of the LDS church, packets of hand stamped military themed stationary and handcrafted boxes full of candy will be airlifted to the Signal Battalion of 520 people and a ranger company of 150 in Afghanistan by Valentines Day.
Many teenagers from the church’s youth program also pitched in to help.
OSOT was founded eight years ago to help improve the morale and welfare of members of the armed forces deployed in harm’s way. They send care packages, messages of support, and items soldiers can’t easily get when they are deployed.
For more information on to help the troops with these kinds of projects, go to osotinc.org.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=347930&paper=66&cat=104
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