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Posted: Thursday, 26 March 2009 11:21AM
Parents' Group Sends Troops the Comforts of Home
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Pacifica (CBS 5) ― It's a chilly Tuesday night in Pacifica and Luigi's Italian restaurant looks packed. But the crowds aren't there to dine. Luigi's is closed so Debbie Smyser and her group "The Pacifica Military Moms" can pack boxes to send overseas.
"We send care packages to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," Debbie explains. "We send them out once every three to four months. The whole purpose of this group is to support the troops and each other."
Photos of servicemen and women line a nearby table. They are the children, friends, and neighbors of the volunteers. Debbie co-founded the Pacifica Military Moms organization after her own son, Joe, joined the army.
"We just thought it would be a support group where we get together for coffee or tea. It's much more than that now."
In four short years, Pacifica Military Moms has become an important community network, bringing military families together. The thirty members have five or six children deployed at any given time. Together they collect donations and hold fundraisers in order to send hundreds of care packages to units overseas.
Packets of hot chocolate mix go into the boxes, along with rice crispy treats and small bags of nuts.
"Sometimes these guys get back to where they are supposed to eat and it's too late and they need snack foods," Debbie says, packing another handful of small bags into a postal box.
Army Specialist retired Matt Sheedy says when he was in Iraq, these boxes from home made a big difference.
"It means everything to the soldiers over there," Matt says. "Even though we don't know the person we're receiving the boxes from, it's still just great knowing it's from the heart."
Most of the money Debbie raises goes towards covering the shipping -- $11.95 per box. Local families send her the names and addresses of servicemembers, and Debbie advertises for more in the local paper.
"If there is a guy out there that needs a box, we're going to get it to them," Debbie says determinedly.
Over the past four years, the Pacifica Military Moms have received hundreds of thank-you's in the form of emails, personal letters, even a flag that actually flew over the palace of Saddam Hussein.
"It's a lot of work but just to get that one email, that one letter, makes all the difference in the world," Debbie says.
And Matt Sheedy's mother Debbie says it's made a difference in her community.
"I just think she has done an amazing job," Debbie Sheedy says. "It's just been wonderful that she's pulled this group together."
So for helping to bring her community together in support of military families and servicemen and women overseas, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Debbie Smyser.
By Kate Kelly
Related Link:
* The Pacifica Military Moms
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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