thedrifter
04-20-07, 05:55 AM
Sending sneakers to Iraq
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
GHS
Thu Apr 19, 2007, 10:24 PM EDT
Franklin, MA -
On duty, they wear boots with utilities.
But when their downtime finally comes in Iraq, Marine Chief Warrant Officer Scott Penner and the 32 Marines under his command cannot change into more comfortable footwear. Marines can only pack so much in their kit before shipping out, and either can't get shoes at military stores or can't afford them.
A pile of running shoes on a Franklin dining room table, however, could change all that.
The shoes can be traced back to an e-mail Penner received in March from his sister, Franklin resident Dori Tucker, shortly after deploying to Iraq for the third time. During previous tours, Tucker had put together food packages for her brother, making sure to include enough for his fellow Marines.
"Everything I send him I have to send on a large scale," she said during an interview in her home yesterday. "He's not the type to keep things for himself."
This time around, when Tucker asked him what they needed, he surprised her: running shoes.
"I just thought it was very weird," she said, although she soon came to understand the situation.
Tucker sprang into action, e-mailing everyone she knew, with many of the people then e-mailing their own contacts. With people beginning to send checks, she heard from her friend Deborah Quigley of Wrentham, who runs a charitable foundation in memory of her late husband.
Quigley offered to buy all 33 pairs of shoes through the foundation, the Ross Quigley Memorial Fund. When the Reebok Factory Direct Store in Wrentham gave a 40 percent discount, they also bought socks and sports bags.
"I had started running recently and I definitely saw the need for that," said Quigley, adding that her children were looking forward to photos of the troops wearing their gifts.
In addition to the shoes, Tucker said she had received more than $400 in donations, and would add snacks to each soldier's bag. She plans to send them soon through the post office after packaging them up in her dining room.
"It's been pretty amazing," she said of the response. "People are pretty excited about it."
With her brother-in-law soon to deploy to Iraq with the Army Reserves, Tucker said she would continue sending care packages and might do another sneaker drive, all in an effort to help her loved ones and their fellow soldiers.
"You always feel so helpless being so far away," she said.
Michael Morton can be reached at mmorton@cnc.com or 508-634-7582.
Ellie
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
GHS
Thu Apr 19, 2007, 10:24 PM EDT
Franklin, MA -
On duty, they wear boots with utilities.
But when their downtime finally comes in Iraq, Marine Chief Warrant Officer Scott Penner and the 32 Marines under his command cannot change into more comfortable footwear. Marines can only pack so much in their kit before shipping out, and either can't get shoes at military stores or can't afford them.
A pile of running shoes on a Franklin dining room table, however, could change all that.
The shoes can be traced back to an e-mail Penner received in March from his sister, Franklin resident Dori Tucker, shortly after deploying to Iraq for the third time. During previous tours, Tucker had put together food packages for her brother, making sure to include enough for his fellow Marines.
"Everything I send him I have to send on a large scale," she said during an interview in her home yesterday. "He's not the type to keep things for himself."
This time around, when Tucker asked him what they needed, he surprised her: running shoes.
"I just thought it was very weird," she said, although she soon came to understand the situation.
Tucker sprang into action, e-mailing everyone she knew, with many of the people then e-mailing their own contacts. With people beginning to send checks, she heard from her friend Deborah Quigley of Wrentham, who runs a charitable foundation in memory of her late husband.
Quigley offered to buy all 33 pairs of shoes through the foundation, the Ross Quigley Memorial Fund. When the Reebok Factory Direct Store in Wrentham gave a 40 percent discount, they also bought socks and sports bags.
"I had started running recently and I definitely saw the need for that," said Quigley, adding that her children were looking forward to photos of the troops wearing their gifts.
In addition to the shoes, Tucker said she had received more than $400 in donations, and would add snacks to each soldier's bag. She plans to send them soon through the post office after packaging them up in her dining room.
"It's been pretty amazing," she said of the response. "People are pretty excited about it."
With her brother-in-law soon to deploy to Iraq with the Army Reserves, Tucker said she would continue sending care packages and might do another sneaker drive, all in an effort to help her loved ones and their fellow soldiers.
"You always feel so helpless being so far away," she said.
Michael Morton can be reached at mmorton@cnc.com or 508-634-7582.
Ellie