‘Taste of home’
For 9/11, Project Package volunteers pack up gifts to let military overseas know they’re remembered
Recruited as a “box builder” by veteran Project Package shipping coordinator Rebecca Flynn of Cordova, first-time volunteer Jesse Barbee, 28, of Olive Branch eagerly replied, “Whatever I can do to help.”
Stormy weather and flooding thinned the afternoon turnout at the National Guard Armory in Southaven at 385 State Line Road E., but enthusiasm abounded on this Thursday that marked the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. Helping hands and giving hearts filled packages of “home” for those far away.
“There couldn’t be a better day to be here than 9/11,” said Brian Jones, 40, of Bartlett and with a contingent from the Southaven office of C-spire. Storm? Oh, that. “I got flooded in Bartlett. I couldn’t go anywhere for two hours; I was trapped between two ‘lakes.’ But I volunteered for this a month ago.”
Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, a program of the Hernando-based Community Foundation, works with Project Package year-round, says Volunteer director Anna Dickerson, “but for August and September we wanted to put some emphasis on 9/11” and Project’s mission of sending packages to deployed military personnel, many on the front lines of the global war on terrorism. Coordinated by Volunteer, teams of helpers came representing Walgreen drugstores, C Spire wireless and
I received your package today on a hill in Kosovo. It’s cold and isolated hence the name Nothing Hill. Just know that your efforts are not in vain. I have witnessed some of these soldiers actually brought to tears when they receive these packages.”
Army Spec. 5 Willie Smith,
Task Force Saber
BancorpSouth, among other companies. Barbee accompanied his mom, Jane, with BancorpSouth.
Meanwhile, BancorpSouth, Northwest Mississippi Association of Realtors and Gallagher Insure group raised funds for shipping. It costs about $11 to send a box, most going now to Afghanistan, said Dickerson.
The armory is the headquarters of two units: the 2nd Battalion of the 185th Aviation Regiment and the 1687th Transportation Company.
“It’s just awesome,” said Rickey Pope, Project Package founder and director, of the day’s activity. “We started out small back in 2004, and it’s grown to this.”
Now it’s an ongoing initiative each Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the armory, filling and sending about 450 packages a month. “About the only Thursday we take off all year is Thanksgiving,” says Pope.
Packing started at 4 p.m. After about an hour the volunteers took a break for a program that listed presentation of the colors by Guard members, and remarks by DeSoto Supervisor Mark Gardner of Southaven, who also played taps.
“It’s my thing” for giving back, said two-year Project Package volunteer Anita McLaughlin of Olive Branch. The retiree said those in uniform “gave and they’re still giving, so we can enjoy our freedoms.”
Flynn, a six-year volunteer, was recruited by Cordova neighbor Sandy Cummings, packaging organizer and 8-year volunteer, who drew her inspiration from her three sons, Army and Marine veterans. She said she was moved by their tales of comrades left out at mail call.
Cummings was glad to see extra help on 9/11, “but every time we pack, it’s special.”
Items range from baby wipes, sandals and fruit cups to toothpaste and trail mix. Donations can be dropped off at the armory during packing times or at 7721 Hacks Cross Road, Suite 102, in Olive Branch during regular business hours.
With Skype, e-mails and other visual and textual connections, contact overseas is more doable. But there’s just something about getting a package.
Pope knows: “I know it from both ends.” His son Shelden served two Guard deployments in Iraq.
Project Package gets notes of appreciation. Pope posts one received around 2009 from Army Spec. 5 Willie Smith of Task Force Saber, relevant now as then.
“I received your package today on a hill in Kosovo. It’s cold and isolated hence the name Nothing Hill,” Smith said. The soldier went on to say, “Just know that your efforts are not in vain. I have witnessed some of these soldiers actually brought to tears when they receive these packages, especially when it has a taste of home.”
Smith added: “I don’t know how to repay you for the light that you and your organization bring to this place of perpetual darkness.”
For more information on Project Package, visit msprojectpackage.org or contact Rickey Pope at 662-284-8108 or rickey@ msprojectpackage.org. To find out about other opportunities through Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, contact director Anna Dickerson at volunteer@ cfnm.org or 662-449-5002.