Students Collect Backpacks For Wounded Soldiers
Last updated Sunday, February 4, 2007 5:29 PM CST in News
By Leann Askins
The Jonesboro Sun
JONESBORO -- Some Nettleton School District students are teaming up with the parents of a wounded soldier to make life a little easier for troops injured in the line of duty.
The parents of Reddi Parker, a member of the 875th Engineer Battalion of the Arkansas Army National Guard, visited with students at Fox Meadow Intermediate Center who have siblings or parents serving in the military, many of them in Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait.
Mona and Dan Parker engaged about 12 students at the school, including their son Chase, in gathering backpacks to send to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Mona Parker said many of the soldiers at the military hospital have multiple injuries and are in wheelchairs. A backpack would make it easier for them to carry items around.
"They have to exercise every day to get those muscles going," Mona Parker added.
The Parkers asked students to include a note in each backpack so the troops would know where the backpacks came from and would feel the support of the students.
To inspire the group, Dan Parker got his son Reddi, who is hospitalized at Walter Reed, on the phone to thank the students and ask for their prayers. Reddi Parker explained to the students that having backpacks would help soldiers in the hospital a lot.
Reddi Parker was injured Jan. 2 and returned to the United State. five days later. The Parkers recently returned from being with their son.
Cheryl Speights, a counselor at the school, said she began having meetings of the "Stars and Stripes" student group last September. They discuss their loved ones and participate in projects. A larger group of about 50 students who have extended family in the military also meet regularly.
Among the projects are sending yellow ribbons home with students to put on display as a sign of support for the troops, a Thanksgiving letter-writing campaign, Christmas care packages to soldiers, creating a flag for the fence at school and making a scrapbook for loved ones in the military.
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PLubitz wrote on Feb 7, 2007 11:21 AM: