A Day of Service for our Military

By Ryan Pfleiderer

15,000 volunteers spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day lending a helping hand to American troops overseas. 

The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium held the event which was organized by Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit based in California. 

In 2003, the founder of the organization, Carolyn Blashek, said that she came up with the idea after talking with a soldier serving in Iraq. She wanted to show that Americans appreciate the military's hard work, and immediately a few dozen care packages turned into a few thousand. 

Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama filled a care package consisting of shampoo, gum, energy drinks, and other items. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi brought her grandchildren and spent time helping fill zip-lock bags with grooming supplies.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd agreed that this service project is extremely important because troops need to know that they have Americans' support. Senator Dodd's wife and two children wrote letters to servicemen and women serving in Iraq. Senator Dodd is a former member of the Peace Corps and the U.S. Army. He said that he chose to attend this event because of the military's dedication to protecting America.

The department store Target helped supply the products being packaged, and hundreds of its volunteers helped load up shipping crates. The goal was to fill 100,000 care packages to break their record of 75,000 care packages. Blashek was excited to see so many volunteers, and she hopes that people continue to donate their time to support fellow Americans.