Look! I did something worthwhile for humanity.

I can't even lie and pretend that I'm involved as an Army wife.  I played that game once before, and I have no intention of playing it again anytime soon. (A full-time job is not only good for money.  It's a good excuse to get out of things.) 
 I will, however, have it be known that I was an FRG leader.  And, as that 24-year-old first-year Army wife FRG leader, I organized a highly successful beer mug fundraiser, a crazy-good bake sale, and a pig roast that involved gambling and kegs (a first for the brigade, if my memory is correct).  What can I say?  Beer and food?  I know how to please a crowd.

So back to my worthwhile thing for humanity..

A few months ago, my husband emailed me a list of items that he wanted sent to Afghanistan.  They weren't for him.  They were for some of the Afghan civilians he works with.  Jolly Ranchers, shoes for the kids, Hershey's candy, coloring books.  Stuff we can buy at Wal-Mart, but things they can't get so easily.

Off I went, shopping list in hand.  I packaged it all up, filled out the customs forms, and mailed out boxes stuffed to the brim.  Scott had said my students could draw pictures to send to the little kids that lived around the U.S. base there.  I told my students and they were thrilled.  They drew pictures of Alaska, the animals, the mountains, and so on.  (They wanted to be pen pals with the Afghan kids, but two different languages don't make for good pen pals.)  

This gave me an idea.  What if I had the kids donate things to send?  What if we ran a drive to collect toys, trinkets, and educational supplies that we could send overseas to these Afghan children who had so little??

I proposed the idea to our school secretary (who is, without a doubt, one of the sweetest people I've ever met) and then we cleared it with the principal.  Kids in my class really liked the idea and brought in gently used toys and school supplies.  I didn't make a huge deal about the collection drive, but items slowly trickled into that big box I had set on the windowsill.

One day, after choosing a container of Play-Doh from the prize box as a reward, a student put her prize in my hand.  I said, "What's this for?"  She said, "Put it in the box to send to Afghanistan".  I almost cried.  That child's parents did something right.

A parent volunteer's husband works for Michael's (the craft store), and he donated several boxes of older items that hadn't sold.  Crafty supplies, school supplies, decorations.  Just stuff.  Stuff that we take for granted that the civilians of Afghanistan can't get any old time they want.

So we had several boxes of toys and gifts to send to the children in Afghanistan.  I picked up the boxes and customs forms at the post office, but the Military Family Life Counselor at our school and that wonderful secretary did the bulk of the grunt work.  They packaged up the goods, mailed them, and Scott received them a week later. 

Some of the boxes in Afghanistan

Scott has given the toys to soldiers who check-up on civilians everyday.  Now, when soldiers are patrolling, they can hand a child a stuffed animal or coloring book.  It's not much, but the hope is that it makes the situation just a bit less frightening for the youngsters.   I've since gotten thank-you cards from female soldiers in charge of handing out the goodies.  They've been especially useful when dealing with mothers and small children because, for religious reasons, a lot of the women aren't allowed to associate with the male soldiers. 

Because this was technically my idea, that (once again) sweet secretary nominated me for an award given by the Wasilla City Chamber of Commerce.  It's for volunteering through the military.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I went to a fancy little lunch and got some flowers and a mug and lots of gift certificates and shook a lot of hands...


But it was a school day.  So I went back to school after the lunch.  And I continued to teach the 4th graders about World War II.  I cannot describe how much they have loved learning about World War II.  And I can't describe how much I've loved teaching them about World War II.  I like to think that I'm doing MY part to make them more aware of the world around us by teaching them their history.

All I know is that I will never forget Cassidy handing me that Play-Doh and telling me to send it to Afghanistan.