08/26/03
Operation Interdependence™
BY BOBBY PEPPER
Daily Journal
The temperature was a sweltering 93 degrees about 6 p.m. Friday, according to an electric sign on Tupelo's McCullough Boulevard. For Kelly Scott, it felt even hotter in the warehouse where she was working.
Scott, a Baldwyn resident, was sorting through items in boxes in the 2,500-square
foot facility on Old Belden Circle along with her mother-in-law and another
woman. Every few minutes they had to stop and wipe off the sweat and fan themselves.
The heat seemed unbearable, but Scott reminded herself of a message she received
just that morning from an U.S. soldier serving in Iraq.
"I got an e-mail from a guy over there right now, and he said it was 130
degrees there," she said, turning her attention to the local weather. "This
is nothing compared to what they're going through."
Knowing the plight of U.S. troops in Iraq and other parts of the world, Scott
is motivated to support them. By sweating it out in the warehouse, she's making
sure the soldiers receive something to let them know they're appreciated at
home.
Scott is local coordinator for Operation Interdependence™, a civilian-to-military delivery system® that sends care packages to the men and women of uniform around
the world. Operation Interdependence™ can be found in more than 400 cities in
45 states.
"My husband was a Marine, and we still have friends in the Marines,"
she said. "We just wanted to do something. I went on (Operation Interdependence™'s)
Web site in February and signed up, and it has led to this."
The warehouse on Old Belden Circle, which Gum Tree Property Management has loaned
to Scott for free, is jammed with boxes containing a wide range of items including
CDs, books, Girl Scout cookies, toiletries, playing cards, razors, sardines,
baby wipes, chewing gum, snacks and powdered drink mix.
Some things are not allowed, like political propaganda, personal identifying
information and sexually explicit books and magazines.
Items for each solider are sorted into large Zip-loc bags and placed in a box
for one unit. Also included is a personal message from a person who put together
the bag, whether it's a relative or a stranger.
Scott, a manager of a Tupelo computer service company, said she mails up to
30 boxes a week from Tupelo.
"I started out with one platoon of 50 guys, and then I had three platoons,
and then I had five platoons. Now I have a lot," Scott added. "I still
have my original three, and I've just taken on an unit of 50 firefighters over
there."
Operation Interdependence™ has been mailing care packages to soldiers in all
branches of the U.S. armed forces long before the Iraqi War began earlier this
year, Scott said.
"We shipped to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Okinawa - anywhere there's troops overseas,"
she said. "A lot of the Marines we shipped to during the war have already
gone home, but a lot of people I'm shipping to are in the Army Reserve and the
National Guard."
Some of the items in the warehouse were donated by local people, but Scott said
many of the items have arrived from out of state.
"A lot of this stuff came from Dallas. They had a fund raiser and only
expected to raise 5,000 pounds of items, but they ended up with like 70,000,"
she said. "A trucking company in Baldwyn donated its time to pick up the
boxes in Dallas." Southern Diversified Industries Inc. of Baldwyn was the
company offering assistance.
The care package is one way soldiers can hear from their loved ones and supporters
at home. Carolyn Stegall of Eggville was at the warehouse to pick out items
for her son, Perry Stegall, and son-in-law, Keith Seaton, both in Iraq with
the Mississippi Army National Guard 223rd Engineering Battalion out of Calhoun
City.
Some of the things Stegall is sending include lip balm, tea and gum.
"I hear that they're having to wash their clothes in a bucket outside,
and they hang them up," Stegall said. "Of course, when they dry up
the clothes are full of sand."
Stegall said her son and son-in-law and others in their battalion look forward
to the packages and letters of support from home. "I know they appreciate
all of this," she said.
Scott said baby wipes are a popular item among the soldiers who rarely have
time or can't find a place to bathe. She noted that phone cards also are being
requested, but she has a short supply of them.
In addition to gifts from home, news from the U.S. also is a welcome sight for
soldiers.
"A lot of the guys would write saying, Send us a newspaper. We don't care
how old it is,'" she said. "They get the Iraqi newspaper but just
look at it. They want something to read."
Monetary donations are accepted by Operation Interdependence™, which uses the
money to cover shipping costs. Scott said one way people can help is to organize
groups in schools, churches and civic clubs to pick up boxes and items, sort
them into bags and return them to be shipped.
Scott and those who help her face a daunting task. but for the hard work and
sweat poured into Operation Interdependence™, Scott said her rewards are the
letters and photos she receives from the soldiers.
"I get letters all the time," she said, pulling out a binder filled
with letters and photos from troops. "I got a letter today from an unit
that was coming home. But instead of sending the box back here, they sent it
on to another set of troops, and the troops from that unit wrote to say how
much it helps.
"To get a letter from them, for me, it's worth it," Scott adds. "It's
worth all the hard work."