"Hi, I am the volunteer who is packing this box of goodies. We want you to know you are appreciated. Our prayers are with you." - Text of the note packed with each box of supplies sent to troops in the Middle East from Ottawa.

On a recent Saturday morning, as they have done monthly for more than two years, Patty Hart of Ottawa and a small group of volunteers did what they do to let our troops in the Middle East know folks still care about them.

The group met in the Laborers 393 union hall in Ottawa to pack some 30 boxes that will go to individual soldiers providing them with the little necessities and the minor luxuries that you just can't buy where there are no stores.

In bins stationed around tables formed in a "U" were small packages of coffee, oatmeal, fruit snacks, body powder, cotton balls, cotton swabs, safety pins, Band-Aids, razor blades, shaving cream, batteries, wet wipes and even flea collars.

Volunteers each picked up an empty Priority Mail cardboard box and worked their way around the stations, filling the boxes. The final item is the note from the packing volunteer.

One of the volunteers, Rex Hewett of Henry, has been with Hart since the beginning. Before the beginning, actually.

A 24-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, Hewett worked with Hart when they both were volunteers with Support Our Soldiers, an organization in Peru that began shipping similar boxes of supplies soon after the fighting began in 2003.

Hewett was a representative from the American Legion in Henry until the SOS operation had to shut down.

"When I found out she was going to carry on, I didn't care that it was here in Ottawa," Hewett said. "Being retired Navy, I understand what this is all about, the importance of these care packages to the troops, and that's why I do it. I'm coming up here every month – that's just the way it is."

Other times the volunteer packers include the family members of troops serving in the Middle East. But in every case, Hart says, they are patriotic, caring Americans.

The packing session doesn't take long. Each month, typically, there are about 30 individual boxes and perhaps a couple of unit-sized boxes that are prepared and mailed.

There would be more if Hart had more supplies to pack and more money for postage. She depends on donations to run all of the operation.

From month-to-month she never really knows where the supplies and postage money will come from, but she can tell you exactly where it went.

As of November, she has sent 756 individual boxes and 35 large boxes, which cost $9,239.14 in postage alone. Then there is the cost of the contents, which so far come to $24,425, for a total of $33,664.14.

The boxes are guided to their destinations by Hart.

Sometimes several will go to one man serving with an area unit for distribution. Other times she will find local soldiers to send them to.

"But they're not necessarily all from around here," said Hart.

One lead came from a man whose daughter is engaged to a soldier in the Middle East.

"That soldier sent the names of some people in his unit that he noticed didn't get a lot of mail," Hart said.

The packages are appreciated. Hart has a scrapbook full of thank-you letters and has received flags taken on combat missions and other mementos from grateful soldiers.

She treasures the responses, but says she already has her reward.

"Once you start packing boxes, it doesn't matter what soldier it is, or where they're at. You feel a connection. And it's a good connection."




Patty Hart's heart

Probably you have heard the starfish story.
If not, it goes like this: A traveler comes upon a beach with hundreds of starfish that are dying after being stranded by the tide. He watches a woman tossing them back into the waves. He asks her if saving just a few of the starfish is really going to make a difference. As she tosses one back she replies, "It makes a difference to this one."
When I think about people who have found a way to make a small but meaningful difference, it's hard for me not to think about Patty Hart of Ottawa.
Public support for the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan seems to have cooled considerably since those early days of our invasions of those countries. Today the fighting seems to be uninteresting or confusing – or both – to many Americans. The American flags many of us put out to show support for the troops have been put away, now only to appear on holidays.
But in the heart of Patty Hart, I believe there is an American flag that will fly forever.
Patty is the spirit behind the effort to send packages of supplies for individuals.
Anyone can help. Here's how:

• Cash donations can be made by checks made out to Hart's Troops and mailed to the Financial Plus Credit Union, 517 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, Ill. 61350.
• If you have items to contribute you can contact Hart by e-mail at hartstroops@sbcglobal.net or by phone at 815-434-5062. They are needed by Wednesday, Jan. 13.
• If you want to help pack the boxes, the next session will be Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Local Laborers 393 hall at 410 W. Joliet St. in Ottawa.

Don't worry. It won't take long. Hart only gets enough in donations to send out a few dozen or so packages each month.
That's not many when you consider all the troops we have serving in dangerous places. But to each soldier who receives one of the packages it makes a difference.