From Washington Daily News-
A local church is working to insure Marines from Camp Lejeune won’t be forgotten this holiday season.
Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington has organized a “Christmas in Afghanistan” drive and is collecting items to be sent overseas in care packages.
“We’ll be sending things to 250 Marines in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines who have little or no family support and who are away from home,” said Bill Cochran, a church member who, with his wife Betty, started the project.
Cochran, who formerly served in Japan with the Army, knows first hand how much the packages mean.
“Right before we shipped out from Seattle, the American Red Cross gave us gifts at Christmas,” Cochran recalled of his military stint. “That kind of stuck with me all these years.”
Earlier this year, Cochran read that East Carolina Bank was sponsoring a company of soldiers serving in Iraq. He knew his church could do the same thing.
“That planted the seed, and we approached the vestry at Saint Peter’s with the idea this fall,” Cochran said. “We’ve been collecting money and gifts ever since.”
The church put together a list of gift ideas and distributed it among the congregation. Suggested items include such toiletries as deodorant, soap, shampoo, foot powder, lotions and wet wipes; food items include hot chocolate packets, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, cheese and cracker packs, protein bars, dry soups and hard candies.
To help fill the long hours, Saint Peter’s is adding playing cards, sports equipment, games, Frisbees and paperback books to the care packages. Personal notes of encouragement and thanks have been written by children in the Sunday school classes and by other members of the congregation, and those will be packed into the packages, as well.
More here-
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2009/11/15/news/doc4aff599f82e6e481640830.txt
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