Better to help soldiers’ families back home

THANKS, BUT our soldiers in Iraq don’t need any more lip balm or boxes of disintegrated cookies.

Christmas trees are a nice sentiment but a bit bulky for soldiers who have to carry their belongings wherever they move.

And gift boxes sent to troops in general rather than a specific soldier rarely make it into any soldiers’ hands anymore.

“If mail is generic, they don’t know where to send it,” says Jerry Morrison, the family assistance coordinator for the Idaho National Guard. “They don’t know what to do with it so they open it and put what they can in the commissary for distribution.”

So many packages are arriving in Iraq for American soldiers that the military is overwhelmed, says U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke. Every package is scanned. When incoming packages outpaced the military’s manpower to search each one, those addressed to no one in particular were buried to make room for more.

Knowing the torrent of packages the Christmas spirit will inspire, Krenke suggests people share their kindness closer to home. Most soldiers left spouses, children and parents at home. Some left the jobs that supported their families. Plenty of deployed soldiers’ families need help to keep food on their tables and add holiday spirit to their houses.

“If you want to help, call John Dunlap at the American Legion,” Jerry says he tells North Idahoans who ask him what they can do for American soldiers in Iraq. “They run a food bank for military families. They give cake and presents every month to the kids who had a birthday that month.”

Jerry knows the needs of North Idaho soldiers’ families from Riggins to the Canadian border. After 23 years as a National Guard recruiter, he was asked to fill the post of family assistance coordinator after it was established two years ago.

“I’m Dr. Laura, Dear Abby and the phone book,” he says, grinning in his Silver Lake Mall office. “You have to have a lot of patience, let people vent, control rumors.”

He works with all military families in North Idaho. When a woman lamented to him that she hadn’t heard from her son for at least a month, Jerry called his Boise office. Someone there called Kuwait and talked to the soldier’s commander who told the soldier to call his mother right away.

“He just didn’t want to wait in line for an hour and a half to use the telephone,” Jerry says.

Jerry keeps track of North Idaho’s military families, helps any way he’s needed and encourages neighbors and communities to pay attention to the families of deployed soldiers. People in Bonners Ferry recently brought a smile to Jerry’s face when they united efforts to chop and deliver wood for this winter to the 13 military families in their area. Jerry boasts like a proud parent about Prichard’s tiny population. The 50 or so people in town adopted 18 families of deployed soldiers for Christmas.

Those efforts are good examples for everyone, Jerry says. Instead of packing boxes with items people assume soldiers need but don’t, they could turn their time and energy toward the families those soldiers left behind.

American Legion Post 143 in Post Falls snapped into action months ago for families of the Idaho National Guard’s 116th Combat Engineers Battalion. The 116th left for Kuwait right after Thanksgiving and left Kuwait Friday for Kirkuk, Iraq. Post commander John Dunlap organized the start of a food pantry, supported by donations, for the soldiers’ families. The post buys food wholesale and opens the doors for people with special permits twice each month.

About 50 families grocery shop at the pantry. Their only cost is the gas to reach the American Legion hall.

“We have a young lady in Athol who comes every two weeks and fills her car,” John says. “She has three small children. We have diapers.”

The pantry is well-stocked with peanut butter, canned salmon, bread, potatoes, apples, canned vegetables, paper products, jams, canned fruit, cake mixes and much more. It doesn’t include anything frozen.

John’s post pulled together Thanksgiving baskets for 28 families of deployed soldiers who needed them. The post has a Christmas party for the soldiers’ families scheduled for Dec. 18, complete with Santa, toys and food.

John prefers donations of money for the food pantry because his post can buy food at lower cost than individuals can, he says. One man dropped off a $5,000 personal check for the pantry last week. But for people who’d rather give food, the pantry always needs pasta, blackberry jelly and cans of green beans. Those foods are the most popular and disappear quickly.

And offers of services are always appreciated. One food shopper told John and his volunteers that her freezer had stopped working. The legionnaires found someone to fix it. They found help for a woman whose garage door opener had broken.

“A lady in Oldtown had bald tires,” John says. “We got her new tires.”

For people intent on sending something to soldiers in Iraq, Jerry keeps updated lists of what items are desirable. He’s recommending trail mix, beef jerky and non-perishable snack food right now because soldiers’ mealtimes are often changed to thwart attacks. Cat flea collars are another good item to send. Soldiers wear them around their boots to fight fleas.

“I get calls all the time from people who want to help,” Jerry says. “Letters are great. Bring them to me. I’ll bundle them, send a monthly package. The first sergeant will distribute them to the soldiers who want to respond.”

Letters, at least, would connect the soldiers with home, which might excite them more than finding creative uses for lip balm.