American soldiers fighting in Iraq have little in the way of basic supplies, particularly toiletries and sunscreen.
Michele King, a media and library assistant at Hawthorne Elementary School, is organizing an effort to make sure soldiers get these supplies.
She is the mother of Sgt. Nobel King, who is assigned to a Patriot missile system somewhere in Iraq.
“My son has never done without,” Mrs. King said. “I didn’t want him to be without all these things.”
Sgt. King is in charge of a unit of 34 in a group of 100 soldiers. The Army provided eight tubes of sunscreen for all 100 soldiers, Mrs. King said. As summer approaches, temperatures in Iraq will reach 120 degrees or more.
“I started gathering things,” Mrs. King said. “The staff at Hawthorne started helping me when they heard about it.”
She has also received help from Dave Redden’s family and other friends, and Principal Gloria Mittleman sent a memo throughout the staff. Dentist Ivan Wolthuis, a friend of Sgt. King’s, donated toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The supply packages will go to help her son’s whole unit.
She told him that if anybody needed anything “to just give it to them,” Mrs. King said. “More is on the way.”
Mrs. King and donors will also help Lance Cpl. Brad Martinez and his unit, which is posted in the southern Iraqi oil fields. Mrs. King and other contributors would be happy to help more soldiers.
Packages sent to soldiers in general are placed in a warehouse and remain unused for security reasons, Mrs. King said. To send packages to soldiers, the actual address of the soldier is needed. Parents have those addresses.
Supplies are divided into plastic bags and put in boxes for shipments. Each bag is supposed to go to different soldiers within the units.
The soldiers mainly need personal hygiene items and sunscreen, Mrs. King said. They were only able to put two bottles each in the boxes they’ve already sent.
Sunscreen needs to be at least 40 spf, she said. Frog is the best. They also need items, like baby wipes.
“He’s been there a month,” Mrs. King said. “He hasn’t had a shower.”
Wipes are among the items soldiers use to clean up, Mrs. King said. Baby shampoo is useful for washing clothes. To wash clothes, soldiers put their clothing in a plastic bag with a couple of drops of shampoo and rationed drinking water. They beat the bag against a truck tire. The baby shampoo does not irritate their skin after they finish.
If they’re luck, and have extra water available, Mrs. King said, they finish by emptying the water and rinsing. To rinse, they put clean water in the bag and beat it against the truck tire again.
The effort netted eight boxes of supplies, Mrs. King said. She also had $98 donated for postage. That covered postage on three boxes for $93.
The postage covers shipping to the east coast. The Army takes it from there to Iraq.
Sgt. King, stationed in Germany, has been overseas for some time. After Sept. 11, 2001, he was in Saudi Arabia. He also has been to Korea, Bosnia and Israel. His wife and two children remain in Aunsbach, Germany.
Collecting donations for postage and for the care packages “keeps me busy,” Mrs. King said. “I don’t think about where my son’s at. It gives me something to do besides working and going to Linn-Benton part time.”
She last saw Sgt. King and his family a year ago, Mrs. King said. “It’s been hard on our daughter-in-law.”
“In the past, our students, parents and staff have contributed to food drives, gathering supplies for families who have experienced loss due to fire and collected funds to send to New York following the attack on the Trade Towers,” Mittleman said. “I have always been proud of the way our students, parents, business community and staff have supported these projects.”
Plans are to send packages every two weeks as supplies are available, Mittleman said.
Supt. Larry Horton has since passed an invitation to other schools in the district to join the effort.
Items needed include sunscreen (40spf or above), baby wipes, anti-fungal foot powder, reading material, Fabreeze, envelopes and stamps, money for postage, chap stick with sunscreen, toilet paper, lifesavers and mints, deodorant, baby powder with cornstarch, Q-tips, paper and feminine hygiene products.
For more information or to help, persons may call Hawthorne at 367-7167.