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Army reservist seeks personal items for Iraqis

Capt. Laurissa Commers puts a pair of donated sandals on the feet of an Iraqi toddler. The Army reservist, who is serving near Baghdad, said poverty is widespread and people often lack essentials. (Courtesy of Laurissa Commers / The Spokesman-Review)
By Melodie Little melodiel@spokesman.com
Capt. Laurissa Commers puts a pair of donated sandals on the feet of an Iraqi toddler. The Army reservist, who is serving near Baghdad, said poverty is widespread and people often lack essentials. (Courtesy of Laurissa Commers / The Spokesman-Review)

Laurissa Commers is among a group of Army reservists deployed to Iraq who are looking for ways to improve the lives of impoverished civilians there.

The 36-year-old procurement officer, who lives in Missoula but served one year in Spokane and has family here, is asking readers of The Spokesman-Review to send donations of clothing, toiletries and toys to help Iraqi families who are living in third-world conditions.

She’s working with the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq – which trains Iraqi military and police to be self-sustaining – and serving with local Army Reservist Terri Fowler. Fowler, a Spokane native who has been featured in two news stories, relayed Commers’ request for help to newspaper staff.

Commers said many Iraqis living in the IZ, a military-controlled secure zone in Iraq, are dealing with intermittent electricity outages. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Iraqis have also migrated into the city, she said.

“This is a Third World country, and the previous regime wasn’t exactly worried about all classes of citizens,” she wrote.

In a message sent on June 6, Commers wrote, “I went on a very exciting mission yesterday. I got to go out and give clothes, shoes and toys to children in the IZ! It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done!!

“We only stopped at two places, but many families came down the street to get stuff too. I held a 4-month-old baby girl who had a blood disease and needs a transfusion – this will never happen here. The girl I’m holding is wearing a pair of shoes we gave her.

“This was nothing ‘official,’ just some soldiers and civilians getting together and helping out. These people are definitely in need. If you would like to help out, we need more things to give out. Secondhand items are just fine.”