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thedrifter
01-15-09, 04:44 PM
January 15, 2009
School committee provides gift boxes to Marines

By LAURIE LEVOY
Staff Writer

Melissa Stoeckel, a new teacher at Central School, admits she communicates often with her fiance, Marine Cpl. Don Valdez, via instant messaging.

"Since early fall, he's been stationed in a remote area in northern Iraq," said Stoeckel, who is a second-grade special-education teacher.

What IM cannot provide, however, are microwaveable meals, snacks and some off-duty diversions to feed and comfort a unit of Marines who may dine, due to logistics, on one hot meal a day.

It didn't take long for Central School's Social Action Committee to hear about the new teacher's fiance, and quickly organize an Adopt A Marine Holiday Drive.

"We heard about Don and his unit through the grapevine, and the committee decided to get involved," said Robin Oxendine Beard, chairwoman of the SAC.

More IMs between Stoeckel and Valdez identified a core group of 19 Marines in Valdez's unit who opted to receive whatever goody bags a school a world away might provide.

To the surprise of everyone, 39 boxes — or about two gift boxes per Marine — were packaged up within a week's notice for shipment from Warren Post Office on Dec. 4.

Each Marine participating was adopted by a Central School class, and will receive handwritten notes and cards from the pupils. "That's 424 pounds of foods and nonfood items," said Beard, adding that "the response of our Central families was amazing."

Stoeckel reports the packages arrived the week before Christmas. "Everybody got everything OK, and the guys were so surprised and touched by everything they received. The show of support was really overwhelming," Stoeckel e-mailed Beard.

Valdez and his fellow unit members found many of the creature comforts of an American lifestyle inside their gift boxes: lots of microwaveable foods, from Easy Mac to Hamburger Helper; cereals; soups; granola foods; snack foods; hot chocolate packs; even beef and turkey Jerky and the convenience store staple, Slim Jims.

"The moms did a tremendous job of mobilizing the drive," said Stoeckel. "The collection lasted just a week, so we could make the shipment date in time, and the kids were bringing in bags of stuff every day," Stoeckel said.

Stoeckel said the food items are particularly important as the men can return from military exercises at any time of the day or night, "when the dining hall is already closed," Stoeckel said.

The pupils even thought of diversions to include in each box to help the Marines spell brief periods of free time.

"We asked for books, current magazines, Sudoku puzzle books, writing supplies and decks of cards, and again, the response was just great," Beard said, adding that every box also has tucked inside an addressed card with which the Marine can acknowledge his gift.

Promoting the spirit of social responsibility is not new to the Social Action Committee.

Beard said recent outreach projects included collecting some 140 bags of food for delivery to the Somerset County Food Bank, and assembling 60 Halloween costumes for the Martin Luther King Jr. after-school program in Bridgewater, a United Way charity.

"The Adopt A Marine project was so successful we actually had to contact Operation Shoebox New Jersey to take our overflow," Beard said.

"They're going to continue to send out care packages once a month, and now they have the names of our Marines, too," said Beard.

Content to know her fiance and his buddies will have access to quick-fix foods, Stoeckel is waiting for the next milestone.

"His tour ends in early spring. I can't wait," she said.

Ellie