Ela library supporting troops

During the Vietnam War, 1959-1975, U.S. soldiers were put in an untenable position. On the one hand, they were risking their lives for our nation's war effort. On the other hand, they were vilified and taunted by anti-war protesters on their return home.

Once again our nation is involved in an unpopular war. But this time, it's different. No one is blaming our 186,000 service men and women serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. In fact, there are many efforts to support these individuals personally.

Earlier this year, Terri Meyer, adult programming coordinator at Ela Area Public Library District, was approached by a library user to set up a support-our-troops initiative under the auspices of "Operation Support our Troops - Illinois."

"It was very successful," Meyer said. "OSOTIL made it easy. They provided lists of the top 10 items needed and our patrons brought them in. The list is mostly food, such as microwave popcorn and beef jerky, but there are personal items, too, such as foot powder and shower bag items. We collected for about two weeks and got over a half ton of donations."

"Our effort was so successful," Meyer continued, "That we wanted to focus on letters to the troops in November. We're starting on Nov. 9, since it is close to Veterans Day, and will be collecting letters until Nov. 16. OSOTIL has guidelines for the effort. For example, all letters should begin, 'Dear Military Person.' OSOTIL says to enclose your name and address if you want a response. OSOTIL wants 20 copies of each letter so they'll have enough letters to include one in each box sent to a service person."

Operation Support our Troops - Illinois was established in 2003 by Deb Rickert, mother of a West Point cadet, as a branch of a national organization whose mission was to support the troops deployed overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rickert began collecting donations of snacks and toiletries using her dining room table as a base of operations. Soon Rickert was joined in her effort by another military mom, Joanne Bradna. Together, and with the help of other volunteers, the organization grew. Now OSOTIL has the 501(C)(3) tax designation allowing all contributions to be tax deductible.

To date, OSOTIL has sent over 17,000 packages, an average of 120 per week. Individuals or organizations can help by visiting the OSOTIL Web site at www.osotil.org and either collecting items on the Top Ten wish list or by contributing money. It costs about $25 in postage to mail each box. OSOTIL is also looking for volunteers and for names of military persons who would like to receive boxes from home. OSOTIL is based in Naperville, Illinois.

At the Ela Area Public Library, Veterans Day activities will include an exhibit titled, "Veterans of War" presented by the Ela Historical Society. The exhibit will focus on 11-inch-by-20-inch photographs of local veterans of all wars along with their stories of where they were and what they did during their time in military service. The exhibit will be displayed from Nov. 9 through 16 on the first floor of the library near the Popular Materials area.