|
By JULIA LeDOUX
Patriot Editor
Dec 21, 2006
A group of
Leathernecks from Marine Corps Base Quantico was honored Dec. 12 for their volunteer work
on behalf of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.
 Lance
Cpl. Marcela Cavalcanti, Lance Cpl. Amber Goodman, Lance Cpl.
Victor Solis, Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy and government employee
Mindy Yurkonis were among the volunteers who packed 1,288
pounds of supplies last month at Stafford American Legion Post
290. The donated supplies were then shipped to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany and to 18 units in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
“The day that we
packed turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day somewhere, but
not here in Virginia,” said
Landstuhl Hospital Care Project President Karen Grimord
before she presented the volunteers with certificates of
appreciation at Lejeune Hall. “We had torrential rain,
tornados and downright miserable weather.”
The
Quantico group got involved in the effort after Grimord
contacted Master Gunnery Sgt. William Nix to see if he would
be able to provide volunteers to help pack the project’s
November shipment.
“He contacted
Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy who in turn sent out an e-mail and
received several replies,” she said.
During the
several hours it took the Marines and project volunteers to
complete the packing, Grimord said she never heard, “are
these supplies going to Marines?”
“Our service men
and women are from all branches of the military, and they are
all members of one big family. Family takes care of one
another,” she continued. “During these times it is necessary
for members of the family to draw together and support one
another. These dedicated volunteers proved their active role
within this extended family unit.”
Since founding
the
Landstuhl Hospital Care Project in November of 2004,
Grimord and her husband, Brian, have spearheaded sending
personal care and other relief items to Landstuhl and field hospitals in
Iraq and
Afghanistan for war-wounded patients. The items include
sweats suits, tennis shoes, CD players, skull caps, socks,
phone cards, house slippers, break-away pants, winter jackets,
board games, hand-held electronic games and decks of playing
cards.
Each shipment that LHCP sends is sent in honor of a military
member who has made the ultimate sacrifice and lost his or her
life in service to the country. For more information on the
project or to make a donation, visit
www.landstuhlhospitalcareproject.org.
Germany-bound
Marines help
Stafford post with care packages
By JULIA LeDOUX
Patriot Editor
Nov 16, 2006
More than 1,200
pounds of personal care items are now on their way to injured
and sick troops overseas, thank to the efforts of the Stafford
based Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.
Marines from
Headquarters Battalion, marine Corps Base Quantico and
American Legion Post 290 in Stafford packed hundreds of
blankets, scrub pants, sheets, towels and snacks into card
board boxes on Nov. 16 for shipment to Germany, Iraq and
Afghanistan.
"If it hadn't
been for these guys coming in, I would never make the post
office today." said Karen Grimord, LHCP president, of the
Marines.
The Landstuhl
project is a non-profit organization that provides comfort and
relief items for military members who become sick, injured or
wounded due to their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Donated items are distributed to military patients at
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest
American military hospital outside the United States, and to
field hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We're not there.
We're here to do what we can," pointed out Lance Cpl. Marcela
Cavalcanti.
Spending the time
packing helped Lance Cpl. Amber Goodman also feel closer to
the area she now calls home.
"i love to
volunteer," she said. "I love getting out and meeting
the community."
Grimord explained
that the purpose of the program is to enhance the morale and
welfare of the wounded service members by contributing quality
of life items.
"I think it's a
great cause," added Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy.
The Landstuhl
project's monthly shipments are sent in honor of a service
member who has been killed while on duty.
The November
honoree is Marine 1st Lt. Frederick Pokorney, 31, of Tonopah,
Nev. Pokorney was
assigned to Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th marine
Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade when he was killed
in action along with eight other Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based
Marines on March 23, 2003, near An Nasiriyah, Iraq.
The volunteers
honored Polorney with a moment of silence before they began
filling the boxes in his honor.
|
