Valentine's added to care packages for troops

Dear Soldier,

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you for saving our lives. You are the best. I really hope you are safe in Iraq or Afghanistan. Today, it is 8 degrees and the wind chill is 22.

Love, Your Friend

This message tucked behind an 8-inch scalloped heart adorned in glitter is just one of the roughly 10,000 personable valentines that Operation Support Our Troops Illinois sent to military personnel for Valentine's Day.

Like the child who authored these sentiments, students both near and far sent the Lisle-based organization their expressions of care and concern for the men and women in the military.

"Teachers send us packages of their students' hand-written notes because they know we will make sure the right people get them," organization founder Debi Rickert said. "Our Web site, www.osotil.org, is effective in reaching across the country."

Small collections of valentines were included in all packages the group has sent since the beginning of the year. The care packages are a touch of home to men and women who serve in harm's way. Last year, the group sent 5,672 packages.

Recently, the organization took over a second 3,000-square-foot warehouse in Lisle approximately a block from its first warehouse at 1950 University Lane. Within the additional space, donated items are received, dated, weighed, sorted, inventoried, bagged, checked for expiration dates and arranged in a box ready for the assembly tables at the original warehouse. Last year, 66 tons of donated items ran through the process.

Volunteers run the entire organization. There may be as many as 120 working on a Saturday.

Popular inclusions are powder drink mixes, protein bars, beef jerky, peanut butter and jelly, canned fruit and soups, assorted crackers, candy, tissues and baby wipes for times in the field when showering is infrequent.

Items that cannot be sent include anything liquid, super-sized or in glass containers.

Ziplock bags, shipping tape and money for postage are always welcome donations.

A stationery bag will have several tablets and writing materials in a zippered plastic bag. A medical supply bag may contain anti-itch cream, antibiotic ointment and muscle rubs. Grooming bags may have hand lotion, foot powder and socks. Short-handled fly swatters, non-aerosol bug spray and sunscreen are important in summer.

On a recent visit to the warehouses, volunteer Debbie Newson showed how the group assembles a care package. The 12-inch-square box is placed on a rolling desk chair or a volunteer-made rolling cart. Open boxes of supplies sit on rows of tables.

"We pack the boxes tight for shipping," Newson said. "We start with some canned goods in the base."

Little spaces are filled with Crystal Light individual packages and protein bars. On top may go cereal bars, hot chocolate, CDs, playing cards, tissues, Chapstick, bug traps and packages of nuts.

"Each completed box weighs approximately 20 to 25 pounds and costs roughly $20 to mail," Newson said. "Each is sent to a specific person and contains enough items to share with up to 10 buddies."

The last items tucked in are the personable valentines and a note from the organization. The group asks for feedback on the condition of package on arrival, if the items included are appropriate, ideas for other inclusions and names of others in the unit who would like to receive a box.

"Everything is proofread before going into a box to make sure everything is what we want a soldier to get," Newson said. "Just when you think you are running out of something and you don't know when you can replenish, someone comes to the door with a delivery of the item. People are very generous and giving."

Newson is aware of the packages' affect on both sides of the spectrum since her husband soon will begin his second tour of duty.

"(OSOTIL) has no political agenda," she said. "We need the troops to know that we love and support them."

"We want to ensure that our troops know that we value their sacrifice," Rickert said.

Each soldier on the organization's list will rotate through the list and receive roughly four packages during a deployment.

OSOTIL began in 2003 at the dining room table in Rickert's home and quickly grew into donated warehouse space. As the mother of a West Point cadet, she saw the need to support the troops.

Today, OSOTIL is a 501c3 organization funded solely by donations. It has sent more than 15,000 care packages to grateful Americans.

Rickert said that in the process she has learned to have more faith.

"You try to balance not worrying ahead with planning ahead," she said. "When we started, I thought we would go out of business in terms of sending packages to deployed troops, but now we are looking at sustainability. I see we have a future taking shape in helping all the men and women coming back broken. How that takes shape, I don't know, but we'd like to be part of the support that continues."

The future includes bringing to Illinois its first Fisher House, which will provide temporary shelter for families of veterans at Hines Hospital. The group partners with businesses such as Bradford & Kent Custom Builders to remodel houses for returning vets to accommodate any disabilities.

This summer, entertainer extraordinaire Gary Sinise will return with the Lt. Dan Band for the Rockin' for the Troops Benefit on July 19 at Cantigny Park in Wheaton. The outdoor concert has had sellout crowds of 10,000 the past two summers. With a goal of raising $300,000, proceeds will benefit OSOTIL and Fisher House.

"Gary Sinise is the Bob Hope of this war," Rickert said. "He has been a miracle for our organization."

The $25 tickets will be available online and at participating Jewel stores starting in May. For more information, to make a donation or to have a name added to the OSOTIL list, check out www.osotil.org.