thedrifter
12-22-08, 08:16 PM
M&Ms provide taste of home for N.C. Marines
Lexcom workers collect 32 pounds of the candy to send to troops in Iraq
By Seth Stratton
The Dispatch
Published: Monday, December 22, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 22, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
Chocolate candy and some of America’s most intelligently trained, disciplined and fit troops usually don’t seem like a natural fit, but when in a foreign country, thousands of miles from home, sometimes a small taste of home can do wonders to pick up the morale of a Marine.
Such was the case when a group of Lexcom Communications employees, specifically the regulatory and revenue assurance department, decided to collect packages of M&Ms to send to troops in Iraq. Brenda Treadway, a billing systems coordinator at Lexcom, said her fellow co-workers dressed up as different-colored M&M candies on Halloween to bring about awareness of various cancers in support of a fellow employee.
Inspired by the small, round candies that “melt in your mouth, not in your hand,” Treadway said the department decided to collect M&Ms packages to send to the troops in Iraq. Treadway began researching a group of troops she could send it to and found a Marine Corps platoon based in North Carolina. The co-workers collected the candy from Halloween to Thanksgiving and shipped them to Iraq late last month.
On Dec. 11, Treadway received a grateful e-mail from Cpl. Christine Van De Brake, of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Combat Logistics Battalion 2 S-6 Communications Platoon, from Camp Lejeune, just outside of Jacksonville, near the coast. The unit is now based out of the Al Asad air base, just outside of Baghdad, Iraq.
“It sure did bring some holiday cheer to my Marines and the other Marines,” Van De Brake’s e-mail read. “We have saved some to bring with us out on the road for the children we will encounter in the neighboring cities. I am sure they will greatly appreciate them and enjoy them as well. I hope you all have a great holiday season.”
Only after she received the e-mail did Treadway find out her company and the Marine Corps unit had more in common than they had first thought. They both work for communications organizations that provide vital links to their respective communities: the Lexington area and Iraqi military bases.
“We are a small group who provides communications support for our battalion and some of the rest of the groups out here aboard Al Asad and the neighboring bases as well,” wrote Van De Brake in her e-mail. “In my (platoon), we have wire Marines who work on telephone lines and repair telephones and patching equipment …”
Donna Arnold, the manager of the Lexcom department, said M&Ms have been associated with the military for years. In fact, the candy was once included in the rations packages of American soldiers in World War II because of their ability to survive extreme hot and cold temperatures.
The employees collected a total of 32 pounds and filled up an empty paper box with the different varieties. For Treadway, doing something to remember the troops, especially during the holidays, means a lot to her as her father, Garland Leonard, and uncle, Elmer Leonard, both served in World War II.
“Whenever it hits us that we should do something, we try to do what we can … they’re like a second family,” Treadway said of herself and her co-workers, Rose Banks, Linda Spoon, Mary Maria, Emerson Suther and Arnold. “Its just something that’s been going on here at Lexcom for many, many years.”
Seth Stratton can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 226, or seth.stratton@the-dispatch.com.
Ellie
Lexcom workers collect 32 pounds of the candy to send to troops in Iraq
By Seth Stratton
The Dispatch
Published: Monday, December 22, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 22, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
Chocolate candy and some of America’s most intelligently trained, disciplined and fit troops usually don’t seem like a natural fit, but when in a foreign country, thousands of miles from home, sometimes a small taste of home can do wonders to pick up the morale of a Marine.
Such was the case when a group of Lexcom Communications employees, specifically the regulatory and revenue assurance department, decided to collect packages of M&Ms to send to troops in Iraq. Brenda Treadway, a billing systems coordinator at Lexcom, said her fellow co-workers dressed up as different-colored M&M candies on Halloween to bring about awareness of various cancers in support of a fellow employee.
Inspired by the small, round candies that “melt in your mouth, not in your hand,” Treadway said the department decided to collect M&Ms packages to send to the troops in Iraq. Treadway began researching a group of troops she could send it to and found a Marine Corps platoon based in North Carolina. The co-workers collected the candy from Halloween to Thanksgiving and shipped them to Iraq late last month.
On Dec. 11, Treadway received a grateful e-mail from Cpl. Christine Van De Brake, of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Combat Logistics Battalion 2 S-6 Communications Platoon, from Camp Lejeune, just outside of Jacksonville, near the coast. The unit is now based out of the Al Asad air base, just outside of Baghdad, Iraq.
“It sure did bring some holiday cheer to my Marines and the other Marines,” Van De Brake’s e-mail read. “We have saved some to bring with us out on the road for the children we will encounter in the neighboring cities. I am sure they will greatly appreciate them and enjoy them as well. I hope you all have a great holiday season.”
Only after she received the e-mail did Treadway find out her company and the Marine Corps unit had more in common than they had first thought. They both work for communications organizations that provide vital links to their respective communities: the Lexington area and Iraqi military bases.
“We are a small group who provides communications support for our battalion and some of the rest of the groups out here aboard Al Asad and the neighboring bases as well,” wrote Van De Brake in her e-mail. “In my (platoon), we have wire Marines who work on telephone lines and repair telephones and patching equipment …”
Donna Arnold, the manager of the Lexcom department, said M&Ms have been associated with the military for years. In fact, the candy was once included in the rations packages of American soldiers in World War II because of their ability to survive extreme hot and cold temperatures.
The employees collected a total of 32 pounds and filled up an empty paper box with the different varieties. For Treadway, doing something to remember the troops, especially during the holidays, means a lot to her as her father, Garland Leonard, and uncle, Elmer Leonard, both served in World War II.
“Whenever it hits us that we should do something, we try to do what we can … they’re like a second family,” Treadway said of herself and her co-workers, Rose Banks, Linda Spoon, Mary Maria, Emerson Suther and Arnold. “Its just something that’s been going on here at Lexcom for many, many years.”
Seth Stratton can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 226, or seth.stratton@the-dispatch.com.
Ellie