Hide Article Text (OCR)
Care package contents are pricelessBoyceChurch is on a mission to bring a little comfort tothe lives of U.S. soldiers*By GORDON D. FIEDLER JR.Salina Journal------ _ la - .... ■ •What started as a temporary Bible school mission project at the First Baptist Church to aid U.S. troops in Iraq has multipliedby loaves-and-flshes into an all-church effort that shows no signs of ending.“People thought we would do this for a few weeks and it would be over,” said Joan Usher, a member of the church's Outreach Ministry Team.The project involved collecting soldier-suitable supplies such as candy canned fruit, batteries, newspapers, playing card’s, hygiene products and other items tough enough to withstand triple-digit desert temperatures, and then packing and shipping them over, in priority-mail boxes.“I couldn't send them for just a few weeks, Usher said.Neither did the church, because since the project started last summer, the congregation has mailed about 150 boxes at $8.10 a pop in postage.“In a lot of the boxes, what's inside doesn't add up to what it costs to send it, but to the soldiers, it’s priceless, Usher said.Don Boyce would agree.Boyce is a civilian contractor in A1 Qa'im, Iraq, near the Syrian border, and is the church's point man for the packages.“To see these kids' faces and smiles, when they get something from the States, it is very touching,” Boyce said by e-mail.Boyce, a Rose Hill native, retired as a captain after 20 years in the Army and has been working in Iraq for 2% years.He said he received the first package from Rose Hill resident Kathy Rainer, Usher's niece. Rainer's mother, Natoma resident Wendella Axelson—Usher’s sister — sent one of her own.“It just multiplied after Joan got involved,” Boyce wrote. “I encouraged people to send homemade cookies, as it reminds these kids of their grandmother,TOM DORSEY / Salina JournalJoan Usher oversees a project of the First Baptist Church, 843 Lewis, that collects items for U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.mother or wife, and it gives them five minutes peace.”Or piece, as in pieces, which is the condition of most of the baked goods by the time they reach Iraq, Usher said. The soldiers don't seem to mind, based on the correspondence the church receives from the happy recipients.Usher said the church shipped 44 boxes at Christmas, nine of which contained cookies and candy Another 34 went over for Valentine's Day. “Nine of those had homemade goodies,” .Usher said. “They are so homesick for something homemade,” “They love chocolate,” Usher said, which is a seasonal item and can be sent only when the weather is cooler, between Oct 1 and March 29. After that, it arrives as hotcocoa.Last week, 17 Easter boxes left for overseas.“I couldn't do this without the church family Their response went far beyond what I hoped for,” Usher said.Boyce said the soldiers were stunned at Christmas when the packages arrived from people they didn't know. With what the Baptist church and others sent, Boyce was able to assemble and distribute 350 care packages.He makes sure everyone gets something because some soldiers receive more mail from home than others.“There's a soldier over there,” Usher said, “who gets no mail at all. He asked if anybody in the church would be his penpal.”Boyce hopes to be back in the United States later this summer,“I plan on going to their church in August to personally shake their hands and give them a big old hug for all that they have done for these kids,” Boyce wrote.Meanwhile, the shipments will continue for as long as the church supports it.“We'll do it until they come home. I personally plan to continue to send boxes,” Usher said. sShe paused and looked at some of the soldiers’ pictures arranged on a display table.“I'd love it if there were no need to send boxes anymore.”
Newspaper Details
Salina Journal
Salina, Kansas, US
Mon, Apr 02, 2007
Page 25
Full Page
Clipped by
Salina P.
KS, USA 02 May 2022
Other Publications Near Salina, Kansas
Saline County Journal
Salina Svenska Harolden
Salina Journal
