Every Tuesday night, a group of Gilroyans gather in a dim,
chilly warehouse for a couple of hours.
Every Tuesday night, a group of Gilroyans gather in a dim, chilly warehouse for a couple of hours.
They have little in common except their desire to support the military troops overseas through Operation Interdependence, a national organization that helps Americans demonstrate their support for the country’s deployed military.
This group has grown close after months of congregating to pack boxes of snacks, toiletries and letters to ship overseas. The time and products are all donated and the volunteers’ laughter resonates through the dank warehouse as they busy themselves with the task at hand.
Co-area managers Karen Humber and Susan Hamilton direct the volunteers in their tasks for the night. This time of the year, the boxes have a Christmas theme. Each box is packed with 50 plastic baggies called Civilian Ration or C-rats. The C-rats are filled with holiday treats and a hand written card, “the first thing they grab” upon opening their bag, said Humber, who is the mother of Lance Corporal Lars Mauerman of the U.S. Marine Corp.
“They go find a quiet corner and read it over and over,” she said. “Our letters might be the only thing these guys get this Christmas.”
“In my letter, I wrote thank you for being a hero,” said Michaela Graham, 7, who came with her mother to a Tuesday night session of packaging boxes. Her letters were decorated with Christmas trees.
“I gave all the packages to my troops and let them go crazy, but the first thing they went for were the letters” wrote a commander in a thank-you letter to OI. “The priceless looks on the faces of my young Marines when they get a piece of mail is something that most Americans will never see, not to mention sometimes seeing the tears of joy they get while reading them.”
“A letter is like gold to a deployed soldier,” wrote a soldier who received one of OI’s C-rats.
Volunteer Sherry Hawkes encouraged her grandchildren to write letters this holiday season. The six of them produced 150 letters for the troops to enjoy with their C-rats this month. “You don’t realize how much these letters mean to them,” Hawkes said.
The letters are written by students and church and community groups. The can also be submitted at several drop-off points around Gilroy, including First Street Coffee Exchange and Sue’s Coffee.
Members of the community can also donate products or money for shipping supplies and postage.
“We will facilitate any community member who wants to show support,” Humber said. Many people want to support the troops overseas but don’t know how to follow through, she said. OI facilitates that desire to show support. Commanders contact OI and sign their troops up to receive one shipment a month.
“Once the boxes get over there, it’s a grab-and-go experience,” Humber said. “All the chaos and sorting take place here.” When individuals try to ship packages to the troops, it becomes a “logistical nightmare,” Humber said. OI organizes the donations before shipping the boxes so that each soldier enjoys an individual-sized package and the commander doesn’t have to worry about distribution.
This month, OI has shipped 90 boxes. At 50 C-rats a box, 4,500 soldiers will receive a small treat from back home this holiday season.
“There’s more excitement around the holidays,” Humber said. “But we are here for the troops year round and are constantly in need of donations.”
Humber can be contacted at 408-848-2630 or kh*****@oi********.org. She encourages the community to visit the OI Web site at www.oidelivers.org.
