From Our Home to Our Heroes

As the war in Iraq heated up and the American soldiers were deployed overseas to take part in the conflict, the need to send care packages and calm the nerves of their families became increasingly important. One small community in America rose to this challenge. A family from the New England community of Danvers, MA, whose son and daughter were both deployed at the time, received a call on the day the US entered Iraq. Their daughter, a deployed nurse named Tina, asked her parents for their help in collecting magazines and games to give to the troops who were recovering in the combat hospital. This simple call for help began a journey that included the formation of a non-profit organization, a nation-wide appeal for supplies, contributions from across the country, a trip to Iraq to speak to the troops, care packages exceeding one million, and national recognition. This heartwarming story will tell you of the happy days, the emotional moments, the surprise visits, the tragic phone calls, and the satisfying feeling of knowing you made a difference in a soldier's life and in a family's fear brought on by the separation. This is the story of helping others, of sharing pain and grief, of laughing together, and of knowing when the opportunity came to do something good for your country, you stepped up and took the plunge. It is a story of patriotism, a story of giving, a story of being true Americans.