Damn.
I thought they meant
Posted on 07/18/2005 1:41:00 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LANCASTER - Entire units of soldiers stationed in Iraq will soon be receiving many items that are difficult or impossible for them to get, thanks to the efforts of an Antelope Valley Hospital nurse. Wendy Fuentes, assistant director of the 2 Tower telemetry unit at the hospital , has gathered hundreds of nonperishable items, from beef jerky to toothpaste, and assembled large care packages to send to various units stationed in Iraq.
Many hospital employees have gotten behind the effort, donating items as well as money for the considerable postage required to get the packages to their destinations.
"Wendy Fuentes is an outstanding nurse and clearly a person with conviction," said Bonnie Daniel, vice president of nursing for the hospital. "We are 100% behind her efforts, and encourage our employees to participate."
So far, Fuentes has sent three large packages. Her goal is to send five packages a month.
Fuentes knows what soldiers miss because she recently spent 15 months with her own Army Reserve unit at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, an American military hospital near Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Working in the orthopedics unit, she cared for wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, and often talked to them about the things they missed from back home.
"They want little things," Fuentes said. "For instance, all they have in the way of a snack chip is Doritos. No matter how much you might like Doritos, if that's all you can get, month after month, you'd give anything for a potato chip or cheese curl."
Certain personal items, like nongeneric brands of toothpaste, new toothbrushes and deodorant are also hard to come by.
"The military provides them with the essentials, but what many people don't realize is that if they run out, they can't go down to the corner store and buy more," Fuentes said, "They have to wait, sometimes weeks, before they're re-supplied."
When her tour was complete and Fuentes came back to work at AVH, she decided to take action. In addition to the soldiers she cared for, she had some other incentives: her husband, Rudy, and five cousins are in Iraq with the Army National Guard.
Fuentes knows of several deserving units but wants to share her gifts with all troops and is happy to send packages to other units with connections to the Antelope Valley. "I'm taking names and addresses of people who are related to people living here," she said.
Fuentes only sends nonperishable items.
Damn.
I thought they meant
Thanks, Wendy! Thanks, BenLurkin, for posting this!
And *POP* goes the Pringle's cans!!!
Will that be Ranch, Sour Cream 'n Onion, BBQ, Cajun or 1/3 Regular???
And *POP* goes the Pringle's cans!!!
Will that be Ranch, Sour Cream 'n Onion, BBQ, Cajun or 1/3 Regular???
ping
Uhhh, that is where I was born. I could acutally see it from my bedroom window.
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