Reserve unit collecting gifts for soldiers

While serving overseas in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, letters from schoolchildren back in the United States became important to Capt. Elizabeth Sparkes. She didn't know the children, but reading their words gave her a sense a purpose.

"You know why you're there," she said.

Sparkes now commands the 348th Engineer Company of the Army Reserve in Cape Girardeau, sponsor of a new program called Shoeboxes for Soldiers. Its purpose is to remind American soldiers in Iraq that they haven't been forgotten this Christmas.

The reserve unit is collecting small items that can be shipped to soldiers in shoe boxes. Besides Christmas messages, the boxes will contain small articles that can be difficult to obtain in a war zone. They include personal hygiene items, DVDs, microwave popcorn, AA and AAA batteries, 30 SPF sunblock, flyswatters, pencils and pens, notepads, envelopes, Christmas ornaments and playing cards.

Hot sauces and spices to enliven the Meals, Ready to Eat the soldiers dine on are appreciated.

Daily newspapers and magazines are also prized by soldiers, Sparkes said.

"I missed being in touch with what's going on back home," she said.

Candy is appreciated, though not chocolates, which would melt. CDs with Christmas music and Bibles make good gifts. Wool gloves and thermal underwear are helpful when the desert chills at night.

The intention of Shoeboxes for Soldiers is to give the troops overseas at least a taste of the holidays at home.

The reserve unit currently has 24 soldiers serving overseas, but the boxes will be distributed to any soldier who wants one.

Tina Plaskie, a Jackson woman whose husband, John, is a staff sergeant in Baghdad, says seemingly small things can excite her husband, a Procter & Gamble employee. He told her about reading a few pages in a torn-up four-wheeler magazine that was being passed around and how much he appreciated the box of Wet Wipes to clean off the sand.

Plaskie says some soldiers receive gifts from home all the time. But there are soldiers whose family members can't afford to send gifts, she said. "To them this is like Christmas."

If the solders can't use a gift, they give it to a foundation that helps the children in Iraq, Plaskie said.

The reserve center and its Families Readiness Group hope a civic organization will come forward to sponsor the postal costs of shipping the boxes, which is a $1 per pound expense.

Shoeboxes for Soldiers was created here in Cape Girardeau, but the idea is being copied by other reserve units throughout the country, Sparkes said.

For security reasons, the reserve center will not accept any sealed boxes. Items cannot be dropped off but must be hand-delivered to a staff member or volunteer at the center.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182