Response from Iraq: Operation Support Our Troops!

Captain Lorilyn Woods flying above Iraq with the American flag given to her by Cheryl BeMent's Arbor Ridge gifted class.

December 7, 2008

In celebration of Veteran's Day, the Service Learning Council at Avalon Middle School organized Operation Support Our Troops.  They were joined by the Service Learning Councils of Timber Creek High School, and Arbor Ridge Middle School. There were 22 classes at Avalon Middle School who participated!  

The TCHS Service Learning Council led 6 classes at our school in collecting magazines, candy, snacks, toiletries, DVDs, and other gifts for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We also collected some small toys for the troops to distribute to Iraqi children.  Students wrote letters and made cards for the troops.

At Arbor Ridge School students, faculty, and staff collected 1,207 packs of chewing gum for U.S. troops in Iraq. The gum was sent to an Army base outside of Tikrit, Iraq. While the soldiers will keep some gum for themselves because the desert air makes their mouths very dry, they will mostly give the sweet treats collected to the children in their patrol areas. The service-learning students in Cheryl BeMent’s gifted class made posters and visited classrooms with verbal reminders, in addition to counting the gum. Announcements were made during the student-operated morning program the week of Veteran’s Day.

This service learning project celebrated Veterans Day at Avalon Middle School with different facts on the morning announcements throughout the week and a Wall of Honor to recognize the veterans who are relatives of students, teachers and staff of Avalon Middle School.  

The recipients of the boxes included family members of the staff and students, as well as soldiers from the website anysoldiers.com. The fifty-four boxes arrived only 6 days after they were mailed! Most of the boxes were sent to Army helicopter pilot, Captain Lorilyn Woods to distribute to her unit.  Lorilyn is the daughter of Christie Woods, the service learning coordinator at Avalon Middle School.  She is a graduate of Cypress Creek High School and West Point.  

We were excited to receive an email from Lorilyn! (If you sent boxes to soldiers at anysoldier or other individuals, they should be contacting you individually when/if they get the opportunity. However, this is a labor of love and sometimes we don't get acknowledgement.)

Here is the email from Lorilyn:

Hi! This is Lorilyn Woods, Christie Woods' daughter stationed in Iraq. I wanted to write you to thank you SO much for what you have done for myself and my guys. The day your packages arrived was like Christmas. Everyone was excitedly opening their package, seeing what others got, sharing candy, laughing, and joking around. Your thoughtfulness made a huge impact on our morale over here. Everyone's cards and letters are posted up everywhere - in the office and back in our living areas. I have the picture of Pamela, Daniela, and Briana above my computer. It is a great picture. I love that you are holding the letters you wrote. Please know how much your support means to us. It makes the long hours, the porta-potties, the flies, and the sand worth it!

I especially loved the gum and magazines. If I am scheduled to fly during the day, sometimes I miss meals. Having a piece of gum to pop in my mouth makes a huge difference. And the magazines, especially the girly gossipy ones, are a nice break from Soldiering. It makes me feel a little bit more like a girl! (Even though the guys make fun of me for reading them. Haha.) The candy corn was also a big hit. We put it at our mission briefing table to snack on while we prepare for flights.

I am working on writing you real letters (aka snail mail), but I figured an email would be faster for now. I really appreciate you guys sending me your email addresses. If you don't mind, please share this with everyone.

Feel free to email me back if you get the time. We recently got Internet in our rooms so now I can check and send emails in my offtime! Best of luck to you and many thanks from Iraq.

Much love,

Lorilyn

Some photos of the students at Avalon Middle School who worked on Operation Support Our Troops and the Honor Wall:

Here is a photo from Arbor Ridge School showing the students with some of the gum they collected:















Here is a video of  some TCHS Service Learning Council students preparing the packages for Operation Support Our Troops produced by TV Production students: