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Project SOS seeking volunteer help |
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Monday, 15 June 2009 |
 Submitted photo/SDN Above, local board members and staff with the Oktibbeha County chapter of the American Red Cross met briefly with the command staff of the Mississippi National Guard’s 2nd-114th Strike Battalion following a farewell ceremony at Camp Shelby for the 2nd-114th and the other units within the 155th Brigade Combat Team deploying to Iraq. The Red Cross is one of many local organizations supporting the Starkville Daily News’ troop support effort, Project SOS. Pictured, from left, are Red Cross board member Jim Henson; Lt. Col Jim Sisson, 2nd-114th commander; Becky Wilkes, Red Cross chapter executive director; Maj. Rodney Bowman, 2nd-114th executive officer; and Red Cross board member Chris Taylor, who is also an Army veteran. SDN Staff Reports
As some 3,500 Mississippi National Guardsmen begin deploying to the Middle East, a local project to support local units among them is beginning to enter its next phase.
The Starkville Daily News-sponsored Project SOS — Support Our Soldiers — has seen solid response from the community in recent weeks, and it will soon be time to kick off the next phase of the three-pronged effort, said the newspaper’s editor, Brian Hawkins.
Sponsored in conjunction with the Starkville School District and the Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s Military Affairs Committee, Project SOS is aimed at publicly showing support for the soldiers in the local 2nd-114th Strike Battalion deploying to Iraq in June as part of the Mississippi Guard’s 155th Brigade Combat Team.
Project SOS is a three-pronged effort involving the following:
• A supply drive for specific items to be put into care packages that will be sent to the soldiers once after they deploy overseas.
• A card and letter campaign to the soldiers during their deployment.
• A campaign to raise funds to cover postal costs of shipping the care packages and other material to the soldiers.
The care package component of Project SOS has been under way in various city schools and at the SDN offices.
Before the recent school year concluded, individual classrooms at Sudduth Elementary, Overstreet Elementary, Ward-Stewart Elementary and Henderson Intermediate schools, as well as various clubs at Armstrong Middle School and Starkville High School, worked before the end of the school year to collect specific items for the care packages and have concluded their collections.
Students in the SSD’s Project ASSETS summer camp have also made cards for the soldiers’ care packages
Donations have also been accepted at the SDN offices on Lampkin Street.
A call for volunteers
Much of the donated items have been transported to the National Guard Armory on Highway 12 West, and now volunteers will be needed to sort the donated items and prepare the care packages to be sent to the soldiers in the 2nd-114th in Iraq.
The battalion is in the process of departing for the Middle East and will be Kuwait for two to three weeks upon arrival there before moving into its operations area in northern Iraq for the next year, battalion commanders said last week.
“Now that our soldiers are deploying, it’s time now to begin preparing the care packages to be sent to them,” said Hawkins. “We will need volunteers to sort and inventory the items, then to help place them into individual care packages that will be sent to our troops.”
All the donated items have come from a list approved by Guard officials.
Those interested in volunteering to help sort donated items and prepare care packages can call Hawkins at 323-1642 or send e-mail to him at
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Interested volunteers should include telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for contact purposes.
Once a volunteer base is established, work days will be scheduled at the National Guard Armory in conjunction with rear detachment officers there. The volunteers will be assigned a specific work day once they have been set.
Some community organizations such as the Oktibbeha County chapter of the American Red Cross have pledged their support in helping with Project SOS.
Additional donations still being accepted
Community donations for the care packages continue to be solicited, and items may be dropped off at the Starkville Daily News offices at 304 E. Lampkin St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until the end of May.
Helping the family members of soldiers is major reason for Project SOS, Hawkins said. Sending care packages to a loved one deployed with the military can become expensive, especially in today’s difficult economic times, he said.
“Being able to send packages to a soldier can become quite expensive for a military family in buying items. During the Guard’s deployment, we hope to conduct at least three or four drives for items for care packages to help ease the burden on families and show our soldiers their community stands behind them,” Hawkins said.
Working with the commanders of the 2nd-114th, a list of Items needed for care packages has been approved and is as follows:
Health and hygiene items
• Shaving cream (no pressurized cans).
• Razors.
• Foot powder.
• Shampoo.
• After shave lotion.
• Soap.
• Deodorant.
• Q-tips.
• Hand/skin lotion.
• Lip balm.
• Antibacterial hand gel.
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste.
• Kleenex (individual packets).
• Baby wipes.
• Eye drops.
• Sunblock.
Snack food items
• Gum.
• Beef jerky or beef sticks.
• Breakfast bars/Pop Tarts.
• Rice Krispie treats (individually wrapped serving sizes).
• Chips (individual bags).
• Instant drink mixes (including tea, hot cocoa, pre-sweetened
Kool-Aid/lemonade mixes).
• Hard candy (Life Savers, mints, Jolly Ranchers, etc.).
• Snack mixes (Chex Mix, trail mix, etc.).
• Nuts (cashews, peanuts, etc.).
• Sunflower seeds.
Fun items for off-duty time
• Dominoes (smaller packages).
• Playing cards.
• Stress balls.
• Cards/stationary for letters and mail back to family and friends.
• Magazines (no obscene material or pornography).
• Disposable cameras.
• Paperback books.
Firearms, perishable foods (including fruit, dairy or easily melted candies), tobacco products and certain hazardous items are prohibited.
For more information about Project SOS, contact Brian Hawkins by telephone at 323-1642 during regular business hours Monday to Friday or by e-mail at
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 June 2009 )
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