Girl Scouts Send Christmas Greetings to 163rd Medical Unit
By Leigh Wills
Girl Scouts handmade nearly 300 Christmas cards Tuesday night that will be sent, along with dozens of boxes of hot chocolate, to members of the 163rd Area Support Medical Company in Iraq.
Leigh Wills
Members of the 163rd Area Support Medical Company will have a very merry Christmas, and they’ll have Henderson County Girl Scouts to thank for it.
More than 100 Girl scouts gathered Tuesday evening at the American Legion Hall to enjoy some pizza, fellowship and, most importantly, to send Christmas greetings to members of the 163rd based in East Flat Rock who are currently deployed to Iraq. The 80-person unit functions much like an urgent care, treating illnesses and injuries that occur to both military and civilian personnel.
The scouts decorated, colored and wrote holiday greetings on nearly 300 Christmas cards. In another corner, girls were busy wrapping 128 donated boxes of hot chocolate that the girls and their families donated to the cause.
Jennifer Hillyer, a Girl Scout troop leader and the mentor coordinator for Henderson County, said the holiday effort to support the troops grew out of her own troop’s desire to reach out to veterans. “Last year, my Troop 352, made Veterans Day cards for the vets at the VA hospital. We had a blast,” she said.
Hillyer said the troop wanted to do it again, but that decision came too late for Veterans Days. Patsy Angel with the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary coordinates the local Adopt-A-Soldier program. She stepped in and asked if the Girl Scouts would consider doing something for the men and women serving overseas.
The effort was a hit with the area Girl Scout troops once word began to spread.
“We started off thinking we would have 30 or 40 Girl Scouts, but I think I had 140 registered, and that’s Girl Scouts and parents and siblings,” she said. “We’re just making Christmas cards for the soldiers and doing them from scratch. They also brought in hot cocoa, and my troop made candy cane reindeer to send along with them. We’re also taking donations for the Adopt-A-Soldier program so that they can pay for shipping all this stuff. They also do a lot as far as taking care of the needs of the soldiers while they are deployed.”
In addition to the 163rd Medical Unit, Hillyer said the Girl Scouts are helping nine men in Afghanistan involved in the training of canines.
“I came to know them through a K-9 officer in Buncombe County. He actually is now working in Afghanistan training the dogs and the dogs’ owners to protect the base,” she said. “There’s nine of them, and they get forgotten because they are not really with a troop, so my troop has adopted those guys.”
Patsy Angel started the Adopt-A-Soldier program approximately four years ago. Angel said she was pleasantly surprised at the turnout by the Girl Scouts.
“I asked them to come out to make Christmas cards for the 163rd,” Angel said. “(Hillyer) called me and said, ‘How many people can sit upstairs? Right now I have 121’, and I though oh my goodness. They’re working hard.”
In addition to the scouts, Angel said she is organizing a community-wide effort where people can donate candy, snacks, beef jerky, writing paper, pens “and anything else I can get to put in these stockings.”
Angel said she has a soft spot in her heart for the men and women serving our country. She said it’s the least she can do to organize local efforts to show the soldiers they are appreciated, especially at Christmas time.
“They are our locals, and we’ve got to help them,” she said.
Angel said she is grateful to the Girl Scouts for their willingness to help. She added the cards give her as much joy as they do the soldiers they’re addressed to. The messages are written with an innocence that can only come from a child.
“We’ll keep them from now on to help us,” she said of the girls. “They’re really cute, and I try to read all of them. Last year to the veterans, one card said you are my adopted new friend, and I’m sending you hot chocolate. I hope you like it because I’m going to send it to you anyway. They are just so cute that I’m sure they get a big kick out of reading those cards.”
The 163rd is due back home around February or March, Angel said. When they return, Angel said there’s going to be a big welcome home party for them.
In the meantime, Angel said the Adopt-A-Soldier program will keep the cards and packages flowing.
“I keep personally in touch with them through e-mail, and the major said when those boxes come in with the snacks you would think they had prime rib,” she said. “We try to do all we can for them. Whatever we can, we’ll do it.”
People wanting to help the Adopt-A-Soldier program can contact Angel at 828-696-0991. Donated items can also be brought to the American Legion at 216 Third Avenue West in Hendersonville, directly across the street from the Henderson County Library. Items can be left at the Legion Hall between 8am and 9pm.
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