Comfort-Junk Food!

Image by K. Cammarata (For a closer look at the yummy stuff above, click on the image!)

My parish recently conducted a drive for "comfort and junk food" to send overseas to men and women serving our country in the military. Working with a local supermarket, we distributed flyers at church and advertised in the local paper. Volunteers (some sporting their old uniforms) stood outside the store on two consecutive Saturdays, handing flyers to those not yet aware of the drive and entering the store and collecting what folks had purchased while shopping on their way out.

We collected the kinds of food the government doesn't issue but for which there is a real hunger overseas. In addition to edibles we were happy to receive batteries, hand cream, playing cards and other small items to make life "over there" a little more comfortable.

From our collection post at the store, volunteers brought the goods to a collection center run by Local Heroes in Wilmington, MA. where donations were separated and sorted and "care packages" put together. The boxes go to individual local service men and women whose names have been submitted by family and friends.

The photo above shows volunteers at the collection center sorting donations. The photo below shows some of the boxes put together from our efforts. After the first Saturday drive 97 boxes were mailed and after the second Saturday, 86 more: that's a total of 183 Care Packages!

In addition, the effort collected $1,300 in cash donations which helps with the postage. (No, the government does not ship these boxes for free.)

Finally, a number of the care packages included a homemade greeting card of support crafted by the children in our Vacation Bible School in August!


Image by K. Cammarata

-ConcordPastor