2008 Woodie Awards
BHC staff brings joy, support, encouragement to U.S. troops
Kristen McKenzie
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: News
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The letters were then shipped to Letters from Home, an organization that ships correspondence to American troops three times a year. The letters were shipped Nov. 11 in time for the holidays.
The All Campus Community Service Committee tries to do at least one project a semester, Nita Drescher, professor of developmental reading and human development, said.
She is part of the committee and suggested Brookhaven participate in letters to the troops and the other members liked the idea.
The committee organized a potluck lunch in the lobby of the Performance Hall where professors could take their time and write non-personalized letters to the troops.
"This was to bring together the people who work here," Drescher said. "We wanted it to bring closeness within the campus community. The staff is always busy, and it's hard to find time to meet anybody new."
Monica Taliaferro, Brook-haven's director for marketing and public information, is a veteran of the Vietnam War. She served in the Air Force for more than eight years.
"When I was stationed in Germany from January 1976 to August 1978, I had many holidays on my own with only the dorm rats as company and the mess hall for dinner," Taliaferro said.
She said packages from home provided a huge lift in morale whether from strangers or family and friends.
"The letters from home remind the troops that they are eating lousy food, working long hours, getting low pay and taking bullets because Americans believe in the defense of our nation," Taliaferro said.
She said many soldiers receive no contact from home, so to get anything is greatly appreciated.
Drescher said she saw an intense effort made to say just the right thing to the troops.
"This was not a political statement or event; we are concerned about the individuals there and it's an attempt to comfort those people who have chosen to serve," Drescher said. "Politics was never an issue."
The committee that came up with the project wanted to include students, but also wanted to take on something manageable.
The committee decided letting the students participate would make the project too large, too fast and they wanted to be able to do it well, Drescher said. They asked for and received donations from employees and students in the form of poems, cartoons, cards, paper and pens.
The U.S. military is located in nearly 130 countries worldwide. Soldiers have to work on holidays and are far away from the comfort of their families.
Letters from Home ships to three military hospitals where the wounded are healing in Germany, Maryland and Washington D.C.
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