Cross, the 14-year-old daughter of Mark and Nancy Cross of Baxter, left Friday for a 20-city tour in six days to serve as the national youth spokesperson for Operation Interdependence, a non-profit organization that sends care packages to deployed troops.
Cross will be traveling on a private jet to 19 cities in 18 states in six days with stops in California, Washington, D.C., Texas and several points in between. They'll spend about two hours in each city, said her mother, who will go with her daughter on the tour.
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Ron Chaffee of Chaffee Motorsports, who is a St. Cloud contact for Operation Interdependence and actively promotes the nationwide campaign, nominated Cross for the Brainerd Youth Volunteer of the Year award. After she was honored, Chaffee called Operation Interdependence founder Albert Renteria to see if Cross could tour the country with Renteria during their Christmas Rush tour.
Cross was upheld as an example of how one teenager can make a difference.
Renteria thought it would be a great idea and called the Crosses to set it up. Cross and her mom, Nancy, only learned Monday that they would be going on this tour. The teenager has been busy this week trying to write her speeches she will give at various stops along the tour.
"I was shocked," Caitlin said Wednesday of being chosen to represent Operation Interdependence as its youth spokesperson. "I think I'm dreaming right now. I'm excited and nervous but mostly excited. I want to meet a lot of new people and work on my public speaking."
"Obviously Mark and I are extremely proud," Nancy Cross said Wednesday. "Extremely. The education Caitlin will get in the next week and the contacts she meets will last a lifetime."
Caitlin Cross plans to remain active in the campaign to support soldiers overseas. She is collecting items to ship to armed forces personnel for Christmas. She is asking community members to donate items -- anything that fits into a quart-sized Baggie -- and to send along a personal message with their donations for the troops. Items, which can include anything from beef jerky, books, disposable cameras, candy, lip balm, music CDs, postage stamps or toothpaste, can be dropped off at WWWI-AM Radio at 305 W. Washington St. in Brainerd. She is hoping people will write thank you notes and letters of encouragement to the troops, to let them know they are thinking about them as they spend this holiday season without their loved ones.
Cross' goal next year is to start an Operation Interdependence distribution center in Brainerd where people could drop items off for the troops and have them mailed from there as well. She would need an old garage or some larger space to package the boxes and ship them. The ninth-grader is working on that now, she said. She also would like to get other volunteers to help as well.
Her work with Operation Interdependence took on a deeper significance recently. Her cousin, Kris Weddell of Dodge, Neb., was deployed with an Army medical transport unit to Iraq the day after Thanksgiving.
"There's always been a personal part but now it's more personal than it has been," said Cross.
The goal of Operation Interdependence is to make sure every soldier is provided with treats and a letter from home each month during their deployment. The 2004 Christmas Rush tour is in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program.
For more information on Operation Interdependence, visit its Web site at www.oidelivers.org.
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858