Jimmy Guerrero, 3, and Jaden Cisneros, 8, was two of the youngest volunteers to help pack boxes to ship to military personnel for Join Hands Day. The boys were wearing long-sleeved camouflage shirts, pants and hats. The boys’ grandmother, Juanita Venturi, said their uncle is in Iraq. Whenever the brothers miss him, they wear the camouflage outfits. “They’re gung-ho about the Army right now,” said Eva Cisneros, the boys’ mother. “They would do anything to help their uncle.” About 15 people gathered in Trinity Lutheran Church Saturday morning to pack boxes to send to troops both overseas and in the states.
Join Hands Day is a day when groups come together to make a difference in the community through projects that connect youth and adults. The date of Join Hands Day is the first Saturday in May. But the church, along with St. James Lutheran Church, the VFW Women’s Auxiliary and Thrivent Financial, still wanted to send the boxes. The groups got together last month to pack a total of 25 boxes to send overseas. On Saturday the volunteers packed 30 boxes to send overseas and 11 to send within the United States.
The boxes were packed with sweet treats: a handful of mints, a few cookies, drink mixes and some candy. There also were essential items: bug spray, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shampoo, floss, Chapstick and hand sanitizer. Hellen Strickland, a church member who helped organize the packing, said troops use the Q-tips and pipe cleaners that were in the boxes to clean their weapons. “There are all things that they can’t get over there,” she said. “And the cookies are just a bonus.”
Strickland said most of the items were donated. Her granddaughter, Jara Strickland, 17, also helped pack boxes. “I thought it’d be a good way to give back to the troops,” Jara said. There were three tables set up in the church. A table was used to put the empty boxes on, one was used to put the sweet treats in plastic bags, and one was used to pack the bug spray and toiletries. Gum was added to the boxes last.
Hellen Strickland said the two churches, Thrivent Financial and the VFW Women’s Auxilary, always are looking for volunteers and addresses of loved ones to send the care packages to. She said people can e-mail her at hstrickland1@cox.net or call 276-8387 to give her an address of a military loved one, either in the states or stationed abroad. Katy Pauley, financial director of West Central KS Chapter for Thrivent Financial, also can be contacted at 276-3110. Hellen Strickland said the groups plan to send more boxes in the future because the troops enjoy receiving the packages.