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All
In a Day’s Work
Operation Pittsburgh
Pride
Helping soldiers in Iraq, one
package at a time
By Tim McNellie
A few days after
Susan Wardezak’s son was deployed to Iraq last October, she
began suffering from insomnia. She would wake up around 3 a.m.
each morning, about the same time that her son, Private 1st Class
Jordan Fox, was heading out on patrols as an armored vehicle
driver in the city of Baquba. She tried Ambien, but still couldn’t
sleep. So after a few uneasy weeks, she and her husband Ron
decided to channel their energy toward helping soldiers like their
son.
They e-mailed a few
friends and business associates, asking for items to send to
troops deployed in Iraq. Those messages and gifts poured in until
Ron’s Allstate insurance office in Carnegie was overflowing with
donated goods ranging from toothbrushes and socks to PowerBars and
DVDs. That initial effort became Operation Pittsburgh Pride, which
has sent thousands of packages to U.S. military bases in Iraq.
 Susan
sat down with the South Fayette Source recently to talk about the
effort to send soldiers a little piece of home.
How did you first
get the idea to send gift packages en masse to soldiers in Iraq?
When my son landed in
Baquba, they had no linens. I guess when they arrived they
discovered a flea problem, so they only had mattresses. I went out
with my own credit card and bought 13 sets of sheets and 13 pillow
cases – one for each of the people in his platoon – and sent
them to him.
What happened at
that point?
My son called one day
and said that one kid, who was just 17 years old, arrived
in-country and had nothing, so we sent him a special care package.
Then we began coordinating our shipments through his captain,
their company commander. By the time of our second or third
shipment, we started getting requests from other captains. It just
grew. Volunteers started e-mailing asking to help. Then, in the
spring, we had a big party and it was like a whirlwind. At the
time, I couldn’t believe we did all that, but we did. And we’re
going to continue to do it until they all come home.
How are the
packages distributed? Is it one box per soldier?
Yes, each box is
packed with either hygiene items or goodies. The packages go to
captains and sergeants, who have the logistical capability to
distribute them. I’ve heard they’ll hand them out to boost
morale, or when a brigade comes back from a mission in the field
– they’re out there for 14 days at a time– during
mail call they’ll get their regular mail plus the other stuff
will be there.
What kinds of
items are you looking to collect right now?
It’s starting to
get cold at night in Iraq as the fall season approaches. There’s
a big deviation between daytime and nighttime, so hand-warmers for
night patrols are big on the list; the same kind you’d wear to
go hunting or skiing. Plus, anything that reminds them of home.
They can always use basic things like pens and pencils to write
home. Baby wipes, and non-perishable food items, too. We’ve
heard that boys can sit down and eat four power bars at a time.
The meals-ready-to-eat that the Army gives them aren’t all that
great.
Beanie Babies are
also a big item. It sounds odd, but they give them to Iraqi
children. Children will actually tell the location of an IED for a
Beanie Baby or other small toys. So not only does that donation
cut four hours off a shift, but it may save lives.
We also welcome
anything that reminds them of home. Even something as simple as a
card or a letter. That’s why it’s been great getting schools
and churches involved. Kids write the dangdest things. A little
girl I know in Mt. Lebanon went to the post office and said, “There’s
no color in Iraq, so I’m sending a picture of this rainbow.”
Has this been
expensive to run?
The postage for each
box is $8.95, so we stuff them as full as we can. I’ve become
the queen of taping. We rely heavily on postage donations, which
can be made in care of Operation Pittsburgh Pride through Citizen’s
Bank or our Allstate office.
And now Jordan is
coming home?
Yes. I wish I could
say he’s coming home unharmed, but he has been injured several
times. He’s already had 70 stitches in his legs from a roadside
bomb, and now he’s coming home on a medical discharge. In May,
there was a terrible incident in Baquba where Jordan’s vehicle
hit another bomb. We lost seven soldiers and a Russian journalist.
Jordan suffered a serious concussion and was partially blinded in
one eye. They’re not sure if it’s going to be permanent.
The important thing
is that he’s coming back. I feel lucky and relieved, but then,
some mothers don’t get their sons home. I guess there’s that
maternal side of me that makes me do this. Because my son, he’s
lucky, he’s from Mt. Lebanon, and we can send him packages.
There are a lot of soldiers out there whose families don’t have
the money to send packages.
For
more information about Operation Pittsburgh Pride, including a
list of items needed for donation and other ways to help, visit
www.operationpittsburghpride.org, call 412-736-8183, or e-mail
operationpittsburghpride@yahoo.com.
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