ADOPT A SOLDIER

Toothpaste, batteries, bubble gum, and socks. How many times do you think about how nice it is to have these items on hand, or the ability to run to a store to pick them up? The answer is probably “never.”

These simple things are items our troops miss the most while deployed in a foreign country. The Red Cross of Southwestern Indiana is joining forces with chapters around the country to make sure men and women from Indiana know how much they are appreciated.

Adopt-A-Soldier is your chance to give back and say thank-you. It’s your chance to develop a one-on-one relationship with a soldier fighting hundreds of miles away. Adopt-A-Soldier was started by Carol Megathlin, a woman living near Ft. Stewart just outside Savannah, Georgia. Megathlin has been setting up tables at the Fort as troops are flying off to Iraq, asking soldiers if they would like to be “adopted” by a civilian. Megathlin says eighty percent of troops leaving have filled out the cards.

The Southwestern Indiana Chapter, by joining the program, will find sponsors for Indiana troops deployed overseas. “When I got the call about Adopt-A-Soldier, I knew this was something we had to do,” Disaster Services Coordinator Joyce Cosby said. “I just think it’s the least we, as a community, can do,” Cosby said. “Some of these men and women are on their second deployment now. These small items that are often reminders of home can make all the difference.”