Hundreds of volunteers lined up at a Napa church on Saturday to fill
1,050 care packages for troops deployed overseas, all in an effort to
make sure soldiers sent to Afghanistan and other countries are not
forgotten this holiday season.
Operation: With Love from Home drew
volunteers of all ages to CrossWalk Community Church on First Street,
where they worked in a chain to fill U.S. Postal Service boxes with
cards, toiletries, beef jerky, socks, candy bars, soups and other
goodies.
“I’m elated,” said Liz Alessio, a community benefits
coordinator for Queen of the Valley Medical Center who coordinates the
program.
The group, which recently announced donations were a
third of what it had projected, was able reach its goal of sending at
least 1,000 packages thanks to recent pledges, including charity
organizations in Napa.
Among the volunteers was Vicki Langdale, a
nurse at Queen of the Valley Medical Center, whose son, Jarrod Little,
of Lakeside, Texas, was killed in Iraq in 2004 while escorting
electrical engineers. Also present was Simri Casas, 20, of Napa, whose
boyfriend, Marine Corps Cpl. Adalberto Espinoza, is deployed overseas.
As
she distributed packages of instant coffee, Casas said she had
volunteered to give back and “to let (the troops) know that we love them
and that we’re thankful for what they do.”
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