BATAVIA – With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rarely on the front page anymore, Sarah Giachino wants to make sure that local soldiers who are deployed there are not forgotten.
"We can't get busy with our lives and let them down," Giachino said. "We need to let them know we care."
Giachino is co-chair of the nonprofit Fox Valley Troop Support, whose mission is to support local military service members stationed on domestic and foreign soil.
The group sends care packages, establishes pen pals to connect citizens with the service members and provides support for families of the deployed service members.
Last Christmas, the group sent out 500 care packages. The group hopes to send out another 500 packages next week.
The group will have its annual spring care package mailing from 5 to 8 p.m. May 15 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 16 at the Batavia VFW, 645 S. River St., Batavia.
"Everyone on our list would then get a care package for the next five months," Giachino said.
On its Web page, www.fvts.org, the group lists a number of items that soldiers need, including peanut butter, granola bars, canned pasta, dental floss, eye drops, foot powder and flip flops (shower shoes).
One soldier, First Lt. Matt Zelasko of the Illinois Army National Guard, deployed out of Aurora, is collecting donations for a humanitarian mission. He is stationed in Afghanistan.
In a letter forwarded to Fox Valley Troop Support, he said the Afghanistan civilians are in desperate need of items like educational books, boots, flashlights, socks, pens, notebooks and sandals.
"We went to a school the other day and there were 1,500 students crammed in at the junior high," Zelasko wrote in the letter. "So there are plenty of Afghans ready and eager to learn and become educated."
Fox Valley Troop Support is always looking for local residents who are deployed and would like to receive a care package from the group.
To add a deployed service member to the group's package list, contact Giachino at 630-587-3789 or Kathy Tobusch at 630-406-9172.
The group will need the soldier's name, rank and unit address, including APO or FPO.
Want to help?
What: Fox Valley Troop Support's annual spring care package mailing.
When: 5 to 8 p.m. May 15 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 16
Where: Batavia VFW, 645 S. River St., Batavia.
Information: www.fvts.org