GOP Women's Club Collecting Breakfast Items For Troops
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Kosciusko County Republican Women’s Club members are collecting breakfast items this month to be sent to soldiers in Afghanistan. Needed are boxed breakfast items such as pop tarts, boxes of cereal, fruit and granola bars, beef jerky, hot chocolate packages, and oatmeal and Cream of Wheat packages. There are four collection sites: the Kosciusko County treasurer’s office, 100 W. Center St.; Able Printing, 740 S. Main St., North Webster; and Northern Gases & Supplies Inc. at 1426 S. Ind. 13, Pierceton, and 259 Enterprise Drive, Warsaw. The club came up with the idea to collect breakfast items after Kosciusko County Second District Councilman Jim Moyer informed them his son Christian’s infantry was not being served breakfast. Moyer said his son, during a phone call six weeks ago, told him his infantry was not getting served breakfast because of the draw down of troops. Private contractors who prepared the breakfast were withdrawn from the outpost and are not there any longer to serve breakfast to the infantry. Moyer said his son told him that his command instructor informed him there would be no breakfast for the time being since there was not a contractor to prepare it any more. “His infantry does receive one hot meal a day and the second meal is a cold packaged meal,” Moyer said. Moyer’s son, who is 25, is a combat infantryman with the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y. He serves at Combat Outpost Zerok, which is an outpost in the Paktika region of Afghanistan. Christian is a 2006 Tippecanoe Valley High School graduate. Sue Ann Mitchell, Kosciusko County treasurer and Kosciusko County Republican Women’s Club president, said Moyer informed her and club members that his son and infantry was not being served breakfast. Moyer told the club the news he received from his son during an Association of Indiana Counties meeting last month. Mitchell thought it would be a good idea for the club to get behind an effort to collect breakfast items for the troops. “I knew in my heart of hearts that is not the way we need to treat these young men and women who are doing something to protect us,” Mitchell said. “We feel that the fact the troops are doing things to protect us, the very least that we as a community can do is stand behind them.” Collection began the beginning of this month and will continue until March 31. The goal is to have the packages mailed out to troops by the first week of April, Mitchell said. The GOP Women’s Club will fund the shipping costs for the breakfast items. Businesses interested in serving as collection sites for breakfast items can contact Moyer at 574-858-9354.
