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"Today my unit received a care package which was a nice surprise and much needed treat. When it was announced that the package came in, it was soon swarmed. The sight looked like a bunch of lions eating a gazzle. We cannot fully express our gratitude, not only for the care package but for the thought of putting it together. It is an honor and privilege to serve the American People and the Constitution."
Semper Fidelis, Capt. Zan Christensen Union III ITAM-Army/OPS
Recent News
Archived News:
• Dentists’ Halloween buyback campaign donates candy for US troops deployed overseas
• US Army Blackhawk lands in Hillsborough Oct 1
• Auctioneer sells sports memorabilia to benefit Operation Shoebox NJ
• What so proudly we hailed
• IV Annual Operation Shoebox NJ Golf Classic
• Victory Campaign 2011
• Seal Team VI honors Operation Shoebox New Jersey
• Shop for a Cause: Macy’s 25% discount tickets benefit OPSHBXNJ
• Somerset Patriots host OPSHBXNJ packing event & “A Salute to the Flag” July 4th
• The Stein Philanthropy Club presents boxes to OPSHBXNJ
• 5th Graders Skype with Airmen
• Volunteers Invited to Pack Boxes for US at 6th annual Christmas packing in Manville Nov. 13th
• Eat, Drink & Be Grateful: Wine Tasting to benefit Deployed US Soldiers
• Sports memorabilia auction benefits Operation Shoebox NJ
• Operation Shoebox NJ joins Flemington Dept Store to honor military families
The Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey Council packed 378 boxes for US troops overseas at their North Branch service center Sept. 24, with each of the girls signing a banner, at left, that was included in a box sent to Maj. Tim Cheslock In Afghanistan. Holding a hero card included in the box he received, Cheslock and other members of the medical unit are shown with the banner at right. The soldier at the far right is holding a box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, also included in each package shipped overseas by Operation Shoebox New Jersey. See more pictures of the Sept. 24 packing by clicking on the "Photos" link.
Somerset Patriots manager Sparky Lyle, at left, helps congratulate Piscataway resident
Adele Kircher, winner of the Victory Campaign drawing sponsored by Operation Shoebox New
Jersey. Also shown in photo is Rod Hirsch, founder and executive director of OPSHBX NJ, and
Patrick McVerry, president and general manager of the Patriots, far right. Kircher was presented
with a limited edition print of Sparky Lyle based on a 1977 photo of the New York Yankees
Cy Young Award winner painted by James Fiorentino.
Operation Shoebox NJ volunteers pay tribute during a busy weekend
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| View Sept. 10 packing photos | View Jazz Festival photos |
Operation Shoebox New Jersey volunteers participated in several events over a two-day period that commemorated those who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks while paying tribute to members of the U.S. military that are deployed overseas.
OPSHBX NJ volunteers traveled to Randolph on Saturday, Sept. 10 and joined with members of the Mt. Freedom Presbyterian Church to pack 250 care packages for shipment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Opening ceremonies featured the Morris County Police Bagpipers and Drum Corps, which played several renditions of military anthems.
Also that day, volunteers worked outside the Stop & Shop on Route 31 in Flemington collecting donations from shoppers. OPSHBX NJ volunteer Jonathan Mercer hosted an all-day block party in Woodbridge, with more than 150 of his neighbors and friends donating financial support to OPSHBX NJ.
Sunday, Sept. 11 was also a busy day. Members of the Hudson County Republican Club gathered in Jersey City to pack 200 bags with food items and toiletries to be shipped overseas. OPSHBX NJ volunteers also hosted a display at the Somerville Jazz Fest where visitors signed a 3x6 banner with the OPSHBX NJ and JazzFest logos that will be sent overseas to the troops.
Youngsters also colored Hero Cards to be included in the care packages.
The New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers sponsored a sports memorabilia auction at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater in between games of the Somerset Patriots’ doubleheader and helped raise over $3,000 for OPSHBX NJ. The Patriots donated several items for the auction along with sports artist James Fiorentino.
Students at the Whiton School in Branchburg also started a three-week collection drive and will donate the supplies collected to Operation Shoebox New Jersey.
RANDOLPH — Almost six months of planning culminated Saturday when members of the Mount Freedom Presbyterian Church assembled hundreds of care packages destined for military members overseas.
“They did a fantastic job as far as reaching out and finding donations,” said Rod Hirsch, founder and executive director of Operation Shoebox New Jersey, a nonprofit that assists in collecting supplies and shipping them to military men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries.
Hirsch, who helped tape the boxes shut before they were loaded into a delivery truck, was among about 30 volunteers and church members who formed makeshift assembly lines in the church’s Fellowship Hall to fill zipper-lock plastic bags with toiletries or nonperishable foods.
Individual cardboard boxes were filled with one bag of food, one bag of toiletries, a Beanie Baby, magazines and a DVD movie, among other items. The soldiers give the Beanie Babies — stuffed animals — to children they meet, Hirsch said.
Many of the parishioners’ children signed handmade greeting cards for military members whom they likely will never meet.
Robin Snyder, who helped organize the drive to collect donations, said specially knitted hats were placed in the care packages, along with American flags, a box of Girl Scout cookies and a letter from the church.
“It’s been really an involved activity,” she said. “My kids are 3 and 5 and they’ve been doing this every week.”
The church worked for months to get the word out about the drive and to collect donations once a week at the church, or at the Acme in Randolph where they held a collection drive in July.
The church gathered names and addresses of local military service members so the boxes could be specifically shipped to them.
“We’ve been picking up and gradually adding things from homes and friends,” church member Carol MacLean said after helping bag toiletries. “This is part of our mission and we want to be helpful to our troops.”
Snyder said she hoped to be able to send 250 packages as a result of the drive.
Operation Shoebox fits four care packages into one larger cardboard box. Hirsch said Operation Shoebox collects monetary donations for postage, and it costs $25 to $30 to mail a single box.
“We’re always looking for addresses” for local military members, Hirsch said; the military itself doesn’t provide them.
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