February 21 , 2006
NEWSOperation Iraqi Children recognized
The United States of America is the most affluent country in the world. However, with such privilege comes a great deal of responsibility.
Aside from the massive amounts of aid the government gives to struggling nations, our own citizens are combining their own private efforts to help people in need.
A few years ago, actor Gary Sinise toured Iraq and saw the poor conditions that Iraqi children were enduring in their school systems.
In March 2004, Sinise and author Laura Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children, an organization that provides school supplies for the children of the war-torn country.
In the spring of last year the Associated Students of Mesa Community College heard about this project and decided to help out.
With the help of the general student body, they were able to collect 848 school supply kits which were sent to Iraq in July 2005.
The kits included items such as rulers, pencils, erasers, scissors, paper and folders.
Jeffrey Linford, president of ASMCC, encouraged all MCC students to help out in this cause.
Students can either talk to a member of ASMCC or look up information for themselves at www.operationiraqichildren.org. They can find a complete list of what needs to be included in each kit, and information on where to send them.
FedEx has agreed to ship the kits from the OIC warehouse in Kansas City all the way to Iraq for free. Therefore, donors are only required to pay for the shipping to Kansas City.
Also, in cooperation with other organizations such as Circle K International and Phi Theta Kappa, ASMCC helped raise $1,659.38 for the cause.
Linford saw this project as an opportunity for students and organizations to “come together despite our political opinions about the war in Iraq.”
“This project should be promoted more so people can be aware of the good that our soldiers are doing to help serve the children there,” Linford said.
The people at Operation Iraqi Children were grateful to say the least. Their headquarters in Kansas City have personally thanked ASMCC for the great amount of effort they put into this project. In a letter to Linford, Sinise thanked him for the money and the school supplies saying the “kids will be extremely appreciative to receive them.”
Sinise also stated, “You have no idea how much the troops enjoy handing the kits out. It is a tremendous morale booster for them.”
ASMCC has teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America to continue their involvement with Operation Iraqi Children this spring for another big shipment of school supply kits to be sent out this coming May. ASMCC encourages every student to make some sort of donation of time, effort or money to support the children of Iraq, and the U.S. troops. The easiest way is to log on to www.operationiraqichildren.org and click on the Donations link to make a simple online credit card donation. Information on other ways to donate is also available on the website.