Published: November 04, 2009 06:16 pm      

Troop support effort broadens

An effort by local citizens to send non-combat supplies to troops deployed on the war front has doubled in strength and in the amount of goods hoped to be sent, a couple of local veterans report.

Justin Hair, owner of the Studio 360 health and fitness center in Dalton and a Georgia Army National Guardsman who served in Iraq, said the endeavor to send food, toiletries and reading materials to soldiers and Marines continues to grow.

“We sent around 300 boxes last year at the cost of $11.95 per box to ship them,” he said this week. “We’re hoping for 600 boxes this year. We’ve been doing it for about three years, but we really wanted to make this a big year since our own Charlie Troop is in Afghanistan. But it’s not just for them, it’s for other units, too.”

Rick Brown served during the first Gulf war — Operation Desert Storm — and joined forces with Hair this week to put both efforts under his Operation Uplift banner.

“We started collecting at First Presbyterian Church in 2006, and Justin started his effort in 2006,” he said. “For two years we worked separately, but then we met and decided to do it together. It’s a no-brainer to be working together on this.”

Contributors have been dropping homemade chocolate chip cookies, tuna snack meals, beef jerky, ESPN sports magazines, Girl Scout cookies, hand warmers, gum, granola bars and toiletries — dentists have donated a lot of toothpaste, dental floss and toothbrushes — at the studio at 238 N. Hamilton St.

Other drop-off points include the National Guard Armory at 709 W. Crawford St., Cohutta Banking Co. branches, Christian Heritage School on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Wachovia Bank branches, Rock Bridge Community Church downtown, and Mohawk Industries for its employees. The Daily Citizen is partnering with the effort through publicity and having a drop-off box at the newspaper’s offices at 308 S. Thornton Ave. during business hours.

Cash donations may also be made to help cover postage and should be sent to First Presbyterian Church, 510 S. Tibbs Road, Dalton, GA 30720. The donation needs to be identified as “Charlie Troop” on the check, Brown said.

Students at Hair’s alma mater, Christian Heritage School, will come to the National Guard Armory in late November to get the next shipment ready and fill out customs forms.

Judy McNelley of Rocky Face has a similar effort focusing on sending get-well cards to the wounded troops who are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., or the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon near Augusta.

“I buy the cards, and I also have a lady at Hobby Lobby who makes the cards in her classes there,” she said. “My granddaughters also draw little cards, and have gotten to know some of the guys by their first names.”

McNelley said people can contact her about signing the cards at (706) 673-3094. From there they will be taken to the National Guard Armory to be addressed.