thedrifter
01-28-09, 05:08 AM
‘Coop’ returns from Iraq
Kevin Hall
January 27, 2009 10:39 pm
— MOULTRIE — It was a long trip, but Coop is finally home.
Coop, the stuffed mascot of the YMCA Child Care Center, escorted a care package to Marines serving in Iraq and the Iraqi children in their area of operations. He left Dec. 9 and made it back Jan. 22. The center’s 3-year-olds held a party Tuesday celebrating his return.
Named for YMCA director Greg Coop, the fuzzy brown dog went to Capt. Peter Burkette Eltringham of the U.S. Marine Corps, who is engaged to the sister of a friend of Child Care Center assistant director Kristin Brogdon. With him went a care package for Eltringham and his men and a collection of gloves for the Iraqi children.
Brogdon said Eltringham had remarked to his fiancee how cold the children were because they didn’t have adequate cold-weather clothing. The children at the Y’s center and their families donated the gloves.
Brogdon said Eltringham is expected to visit the Child Care Center in April when he’s due for leave.
Coop stays at the Child Care Center during the week, but Brogdon said he goes home with a child every Friday. He keeps a journal, too, and whatever he does over the weekend gets reported in the journal, along with photos.
He’s been to the beach, to Disney World and to Alabama.
The mascot also goes on the center’s field trips.
“Wherever we go, Coop goes,” Brogdon said.
Coop’s journal now includes an entry about a mission he went on in Iraq. He joined the Marines as they distributed the gloves and some oranges to the Iraqi children.
Ellie
Kevin Hall
January 27, 2009 10:39 pm
— MOULTRIE — It was a long trip, but Coop is finally home.
Coop, the stuffed mascot of the YMCA Child Care Center, escorted a care package to Marines serving in Iraq and the Iraqi children in their area of operations. He left Dec. 9 and made it back Jan. 22. The center’s 3-year-olds held a party Tuesday celebrating his return.
Named for YMCA director Greg Coop, the fuzzy brown dog went to Capt. Peter Burkette Eltringham of the U.S. Marine Corps, who is engaged to the sister of a friend of Child Care Center assistant director Kristin Brogdon. With him went a care package for Eltringham and his men and a collection of gloves for the Iraqi children.
Brogdon said Eltringham had remarked to his fiancee how cold the children were because they didn’t have adequate cold-weather clothing. The children at the Y’s center and their families donated the gloves.
Brogdon said Eltringham is expected to visit the Child Care Center in April when he’s due for leave.
Coop stays at the Child Care Center during the week, but Brogdon said he goes home with a child every Friday. He keeps a journal, too, and whatever he does over the weekend gets reported in the journal, along with photos.
He’s been to the beach, to Disney World and to Alabama.
The mascot also goes on the center’s field trips.
“Wherever we go, Coop goes,” Brogdon said.
Coop’s journal now includes an entry about a mission he went on in Iraq. He joined the Marines as they distributed the gloves and some oranges to the Iraqi children.
Ellie