thedrifter
07-06-07, 05:51 AM
Schoolkids keep GIs in touch with home
Mother in Parsippany starts phone card drive
Thursday, July 05, 2007
BY AL FRANK
Star-Ledger Staff
With a son serving with the Marines in Iraq, Lois Olsen looks forward to the regular phone calls Lance Cpl. Ray Olsen makes to her in Parsippany.
"E-mails are okay, but I love to hear from him," she said. "It's better to hear his voice because it gives you a little more of how he's feeling."
Therefore, when the nurse at Eastlake Elementary School asked whether there was anything the soldier's old grammar school could do for him, pre-paid phone cards were the first thing that came to his mother's mind.
That was the genesis of "Minutes for the Military," a campaign the 330-pupil school launched in May. By the time school year ended, the children had raised about $700 worth of calling cards.
The idea grew out of a chance meeting between Nancy Goeller, Eastlake's nurse, and Ray Olsen's sister, Elizabeth.
Goeller's car had broken down outside the Olsen home in Lake Parsippany, and when the 16-year-old girl came out to chat, the conversation turned toward her brother and how the school would love to mount a project on his behalf.
"Minutes for the Military" evolved after Lois Olsen, a schoolbus driver for Hanover, was struck that soldiers had to pay for their calls home.
"He usually uses his (debit) card, so it comes right out of his checking account," she said. "I was very surprised he had to pay for his calls."
The first donations came from parents and schoolchildren. Many know Olsen, 19, who graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 2005 and enlisted in the Marines. He left for Iraq last March.
More than fundraising, the drive offered the youngsters a learning experience. First-graders wrote poems for the soldiers while second- and third-graders wrote them letters. Fourth-graders wrote to local businesses for help.
"We were teaching about how and why we write business letters," teacher Tracy Carroll said. "So we contacted local businesses to see if they would donate."
Names and addresses of some 50 local companies were compiled from a directory at the public library, and each youngster was assigned two. As responses arrived in the mail, the letter would be read aloud at lunch by the pupil who had written the company.
"It was a great way to get them to see a real-world application of what we learn in school," Carroll said.
The responses also provided evidence that sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
Checks in the hundreds of dollars came from York Claims Service Inc.; Cendant Car Rental Group and Macrosoft Inc. But the biggest applause came the day the letter from Jackson Hewitt arrived.
Brittney Stark, who had written the tax preparation service, opened the envelope to find 150, 30-minute phone cards.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, how much money is this?'" Brittney said.
Goeller said the first shipment of 158 cards, each with 30 minutes, was sent out two weeks ago, along with letters the pupils had written. Additional shipments will be dispatched this month and in September.
"We were excited about it," Goeller said. "It goes to the heart of what the school is -- the community we are at Eastlake -- helping others."
From Karbala, Iraq, Olsen e-mailed that his mother had told him about the Eastlake project "for me and my fellow Marines" and that they were looking forward to receiving the gifts.
Donations for "Minutes for the Military" may be mailed to Eastlake School, 40 Elba Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054.
Al Frank may be reached at (973) 539-7910 or afrank@starledger.com.
Ellie
Mother in Parsippany starts phone card drive
Thursday, July 05, 2007
BY AL FRANK
Star-Ledger Staff
With a son serving with the Marines in Iraq, Lois Olsen looks forward to the regular phone calls Lance Cpl. Ray Olsen makes to her in Parsippany.
"E-mails are okay, but I love to hear from him," she said. "It's better to hear his voice because it gives you a little more of how he's feeling."
Therefore, when the nurse at Eastlake Elementary School asked whether there was anything the soldier's old grammar school could do for him, pre-paid phone cards were the first thing that came to his mother's mind.
That was the genesis of "Minutes for the Military," a campaign the 330-pupil school launched in May. By the time school year ended, the children had raised about $700 worth of calling cards.
The idea grew out of a chance meeting between Nancy Goeller, Eastlake's nurse, and Ray Olsen's sister, Elizabeth.
Goeller's car had broken down outside the Olsen home in Lake Parsippany, and when the 16-year-old girl came out to chat, the conversation turned toward her brother and how the school would love to mount a project on his behalf.
"Minutes for the Military" evolved after Lois Olsen, a schoolbus driver for Hanover, was struck that soldiers had to pay for their calls home.
"He usually uses his (debit) card, so it comes right out of his checking account," she said. "I was very surprised he had to pay for his calls."
The first donations came from parents and schoolchildren. Many know Olsen, 19, who graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 2005 and enlisted in the Marines. He left for Iraq last March.
More than fundraising, the drive offered the youngsters a learning experience. First-graders wrote poems for the soldiers while second- and third-graders wrote them letters. Fourth-graders wrote to local businesses for help.
"We were teaching about how and why we write business letters," teacher Tracy Carroll said. "So we contacted local businesses to see if they would donate."
Names and addresses of some 50 local companies were compiled from a directory at the public library, and each youngster was assigned two. As responses arrived in the mail, the letter would be read aloud at lunch by the pupil who had written the company.
"It was a great way to get them to see a real-world application of what we learn in school," Carroll said.
The responses also provided evidence that sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
Checks in the hundreds of dollars came from York Claims Service Inc.; Cendant Car Rental Group and Macrosoft Inc. But the biggest applause came the day the letter from Jackson Hewitt arrived.
Brittney Stark, who had written the tax preparation service, opened the envelope to find 150, 30-minute phone cards.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, how much money is this?'" Brittney said.
Goeller said the first shipment of 158 cards, each with 30 minutes, was sent out two weeks ago, along with letters the pupils had written. Additional shipments will be dispatched this month and in September.
"We were excited about it," Goeller said. "It goes to the heart of what the school is -- the community we are at Eastlake -- helping others."
From Karbala, Iraq, Olsen e-mailed that his mother had told him about the Eastlake project "for me and my fellow Marines" and that they were looking forward to receiving the gifts.
Donations for "Minutes for the Military" may be mailed to Eastlake School, 40 Elba Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054.
Al Frank may be reached at (973) 539-7910 or afrank@starledger.com.
Ellie