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thedrifter
02-02-09, 08:37 AM
Franklin Focus: Pen pals can make a soldier's day
By VICKY TAYLOR Staff writer
Chambersburg Public Opinion


Wanted: Pen pals for soldiers serving their country far away from home, especially in war zones.

Reward: The knowledge that your letter has made a difference to a military member who might be tired, discouraged and homesick.

Fred Bucci knows what its like to come in after a difficult day far away from home and family and have mail waiting. For a soldier, one of the highlights of the day in that situation is mail call, the retired Army veteran said.

"Getting mail from home is a big morale booster for soldiers," said Bucci, director of the Franklin County Military Outreach Program. "When they come back from the field, it is good to get that mail, that 'voice from home' saying thank you for serving."

The fledgling FCMOP wants to make sure that every soldier, Marine or other serviceman or woman serving in faraway places around the globe gets that mail from home this year.

The organization's newest outreach effort is an "Adopt a Soldier" program that will insure that each military member who wants to correspond with people back home will have plenty of opportunity to do so.

FCMOP has contacted all five county school districts, explaining the program and asking the districts to enlist the help of classes and students, asking them to adopt a soldier, sailor, National Guardsman or Marine serving abroad.

All five districts have agreed to participate.

The problem is not a dearth of sponsors to adopt a service member. It is in getting the names of service members who would like to be adopted.

So far, Bucci said he has 66 names of area soldiers who were part of the call up of the National Guard's Second Squadron, 104th Cavalry, Troop C, which deployed from Waynesboro last fall.

He has received no information yet on the Gettysburg unit that deployed at about the same time, and so far has not gathered names of local service members on active duty with the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

FCMOP's program is far from the first effort by area groups -- including local Scouts -- to support local military members serving abroad, but it is the first time anyone has tried to coordinate those efforts.

Local Girl Scouts have run programs to send cookies from home to service members in the spring and packages of Christmas candy and nuts during the holidays.

The Scouts always send letters and photos with the treats, taping individual messages, drawings and photos from the Scouts to each box of cookies or tin of candy and nuts.

As the soldiers share their treats from home with others in their units, the Scouts often received letters, photos and mementos from the recipients.

That frequently led to long-term correspondence with the soldiers, and visits to the Scout troop when they got home.

"It has meant a lot to both the troops and to our girls," said Girl Scout leader Suzanne Crider, whose troop has kept scrapbooks and displays of the letters and items sent by the troops.

Her daughter, Elise, said she is looking forward to participating this year in both the Scout's Cookies from Home program and in a classroom project at school to adopt a soldier.

Bucci praised those efforts as necessary and vital, and said FCMOP's efforts won't replace those programs. Instead, he said the Adopt a Soldier program would attempt to supplement and perhaps build upon other efforts to insure that every military member who wants to participate is adopted by at least one classroom, group or individual.

He would like FCMOP to become a central information point where names and addresses of service members can be gathered and made available to anyone wanting to send a care package, become a pen pal or adopt a soldier.

So far, each of the 66 National Guardsmen who signed up for FCMOP's program has at least two classroom sponsors, according to Bucci.

"The classes will correspond with the soldier and send gift packages," he said. "We have asked each classroom to get permission from their student's parents to send either a class or individual pictures to the soldier."

He said it will be up to the school districts, classroom teachers and students to decide whether this was done as a classroom project or let the students "adopt" a soldier individually.

The adopt a soldier program is just one of many things FCMOP has done in the year it has been in existence.

As a nonprofit organization, it is designed to be a "go-to" organization for service members and veterans navigating the red tape of government benefits and to help family members while soldiers are deployed.

An ongoing project is a care package program in which the public can donate items to be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

FCMOP has released a list of items like beef jerky, snacks, toiletry items, games, writing materials, telephone cards and even water balloons and sporting equipment needed for the care packages.

Bucci says the most important thing, however, is letters to the troops, lots of them.

For more information about FCMOP and the Adopt a Soldier and Care Package program, contact Bucci by e-mail at fbucci@comcast.net.

Military members or their families should send the names of soldiers wanting to be adopted to Bucci at the same e-mail address.

For information about FCMOP and its mission, go to http://www.fcmop.homestead.com.

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Vicky Taylor can be reached at 262-4753 or vtaylor@publicopinionnews.com.


Franklin Focus is a Monday column about the people, places and events that make Franklin County unique. To suggest future column topics, contact Vicky Taylor at vtaylor@publicopinionnews.com or call her 262-4753.

Ellie