Many soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq arrive at combat theatre hospitals with nothing. When the uniform and protective equipment are cut off, the soldier is left in a hospital gown or underwear. Depending upon wound intensity, they are routed to the Lundstul, Germany military hospital - with nothing.
Meeting this need for our soldiers is the First Response Backpack. Created by the Soldiers' Angels and the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the backpack contains sweats, t-shirt, underclothes, blanket, toiletries and letters or cards from home.
UNC Charlotte Veterans Club and Solders' Angels sponsored a daylong packathon in the Student Union Lobby this week. Nearly 200 First Response Backpacks were assembled, while a generous public outpouring wrote the letters and Christmas cards. "Amazing - I could not believe all the people that came out," says Soldiers' Angels Regional Captain Marianne Walters. A Daisy Troop, teachers, UNCC students and employees and business owners turned out to make this happen. "A fourth-grade teacher took 250 cards for her school to fill out and adopted a soldier for her class," added Walters. A Charlotte Super Target took 2,000 to 3,000 cards for a storewide card-signing day.
This event was part of a week-long Veterans Day Showcase held at UNC Charlotte. For club information, go to: http://www.studentveterans.org/unc-charlotte. Check out http://www.facebook.com/UNCCharlotte to see pictures and events.
Soldiers' Angels is a national non-profit with 180,000 volunteers. Regional Captain Marianne Walters says we have many ways to support our troops: write letters, adopt-a-soldier, donate reading materials, vet packs and more. Walters participated in a North Carolina project in delivering lap tops to soldiers in the Fort Bragg Wounded Transition Battalion.
Soldier's Angels is in the midst of a Christmas Care Package drive. Contents include socks, packages of hot chocolate and apple cider, candy and a thermal mug. Donations are accepted through 30 November. For more information, e-mail Walters at http://mwalters@soldiersangels.org. The national site is: http://www.soldiersangels.org.
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