Naperville students helping children in war zones

The children and parents of Naperville's Peterson Elementary School are continuing their annual practice of reaching out to less-fortunate students in war-torn countries.

Last March, hundreds of students participated in the Books of Hope Uganda project by sending hundreds of simple handmade school books to Ugandan children. This March, they packaged essential school supplies, blankets and shoes for children in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the national "Operation Iraqi Children" campaign.

The nonprofit organization founded in 2004 by actor Gary Sinese and author Laura Hillenbrand donates 100 percent of supplies or monetary donations directly to the children's needs.

"We're lucky to have what we have and to live the lives we do, but it's important for our children to realize not everyone lives like that," said parent and project coordinator Diane Esser. "At the elementary level, these kids get so excited about the prospect of helping someone else, so it's fun and they're learning about giving and generosity at the same time."

Parents, teachers and children gathered in Peterson's gymnasium recently to pack hundreds of care packages with items collected by Peterson families.

For the past two months, students have been donating or gathering blankets, composition notebooks, colored pencils, small pencil sharpeners, folders with pockets and rulers.

Donor groups, like the Peterson community, ship their donations to a warehouse in Kansas City, Mo., where items are sorted and packaged for delivery to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

The troops then deliver the packages to children and schools as a "goodwill" effort.

"It's a two-tiered approach in that we're helping the children by sending things that can help them in school and we're helping the groups continue to gain trust from the public over there," Esser said.

The school is also encouraging students to write a short message of kindness to the recipient children. These messages can be translated by our soldiers.

Once the delivery is made, Esser said troops often respond and let the students know how appreciative the recipient students were.