February 03, 2011 - An outreach to overseas American troops that started a few years ago in a local second grade classroom has expanded to several school districts, organizations and corporations. Valentines for Troops, based in Newtown, sent over 3300 letters to 2200 overseas troops last year and are hoping to send even more in 2011.
Laurie Borst, a volunteer for Valentines for Troops, explained in a phone interview that the group began six years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School. A teacher was looking for a real life writing experience for her students and reached out to former Army Captain Donna Randle, the mother of two students. Randle collected addresses, and the class began writing letters to the soldiers. Borst's own son was serving in Kuwait at the time, and she became involved with the group when her son got a letter "from home". "It made my heart feel good", Laurie said.
"After that it just took off," Laurie continued. "The next year, I think the whole second grade wrote letters. The year after that it was the second and fourth grades. The year after that it was all of Sandy Hook School. By then Donna's kids – she has boy and girl twins –had moved to Reed Intermediate School and so Reed jumped on board. Last year, we had an amazing amount of participation. Almost all our schools wrote and Reed's Interact Club collected items. Charter Communications began collecting DVDs, so we started shipping all kinds of stuff along with the letters."
Unilever has donated bars of soap. Newtown dentists have donated toothbrushes. Duracell has offered batteries. Starbucks is shipping coffee. The Newtown Youth Academy has been collecting personal care items and sporting goods for the troops. Items are also being collected for overseas canine units. "The dogs perform all sorts of duties", explained Laurie, "from bomb-sniffing right up to therapy. There are not just people over there. There are a lot of different avenues of people and animals serving."
Laurie said that students who write letters often get responses from the troops, who share their experiences and sometimes even small mementos. "They are grateful," she said. "It's a lifeline for them to have any connection back to the real world, to the life they left behind. It's very different from what they are experiencing."
Laurie said that most of the troops they connect with are located in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Japan. Letters are also sent to one or two naval ships. She hailed Donna Randle as the "driving force, the energy" of the group, the person who makes it possible for the soldiers to connect back home.
Anyone interested in getting involved in Valentines for Troops can email Donna Randle at ndrandle@charter.net. You may also connect with Valentines for Troops on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valentines-for-Troops-Newtown-CT.
Local business listings, classifieds, classified ads, want ads for The only Pennysaver serving Danbury, New Milford, Torrington, Fairfield & Litchfield County, CT Connecticut. In Print, On line, And Mobile Affliated websies: Proud2ShopLocal.com, coupons4ct.com, ctcirculars.com
