Service group honors leaders of care package effort

When hundreds of local servicemen shipped off to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Piece-A-Cake Bakery answered the call.

Since 2003, the East Dundee bakery owned by Marine Corps veterans Roger and Diane Ahrens has shipped more than three tons of cookies to U.S. soldiers stationed abroad.

Their effort wouldn't have been possible without their own army of volunteers - mostly local seniors working through the Dundee Township Senior Center.

On Monday, those volunteers recognized Diane Ahrens and Senior Center Coordinator Mary Stallings for their efforts.

"Without the help of Mary and her staff, it would be much more difficult," said Gerry Salvesen, president of Operation We Care, a local service group that sends care packages to U.S. soldiers. "Without Diane, we just wouldn't be here. We wouldn't have Operation We Care."

The bakery worked on its own for most of the past five years. Earlier this year, Diane Ahrens approached Operation We Care to help pack and ship the cookies.

Since the volunteer group and the senior center started helping, the bakery has sent 250 to 300 boxes of cookies to U.S. soldiers, Natale said.

In return, volunteers and the bakery have received dozens of letters of thanks from recipients.

"The final months and weeks of the deployment can be tough as we celebrate the holiday season together with our 'deployed' family but away from our families at home," Marine Col. Peter Reddy wrote in a recent letter to Operation We Care.

"The forward deployed members of (Marine Air Control Group 38) welcomed the cookies you sent as a show of support at this critical time."

Stallings said she was moved by the soldiers' gratitude.

"It just amazes me how they say what we do here helps them," Stallings said. "We are very lucky for what we have here because of them."

Diane Ahrens pledged to continue her efforts.

"I don't want to quit until they're all home," she told the volunteers. "I was at the point where I couldn't. You guys picked up a lot of slack for me. I couldn't do it without you."