Care Packages
 

Operation Minnesota Nice
Posted: 3/22/05
Operation Minnesota Nice
by Joni Astrup
Associate editor
Once a month, volunteers gather in the basement of the Zimmerman American Legion
to pack boxes for soldiers they?ve never met.
In a flurry of activity, they fill box after box with a variety of things,
ranging from baby wipes and toothpaste to beef jerky and pudding. Many add a
personal letter.
The boxes are sent to individual soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who, for a
variety of reasons, get little or nothing from home.
Volunteers like knowing that they are making soldiers? lives a little brighter.
?That?s all that matters, that they know somebody cares about them,? said Frank
Novak, a volunteer from Princeton.
The effort is called Operation Minnesota Nice, and it?s the brainchild of Denise
Jorgensen of Elk River.
?Six months ago, I just wanted to help a couple of guys,? she said, ?and it?s
just kind of taken off on its own. There?s so many people that are so caring and
just so generous.?
More than 1,400 pounds of items have been sent to soldiers so far, and the
movement is growing.
Helping a friend
It started out simply enough.
Jorgensen?s good friend, Vickie Kruse of Decorah, Iowa, has a son serving in
Iraq. Being a single parent, Kruse was finding it difficult to send care
packages to her son, Ben, on a regular basis and asked her family and friends to
help. Jorgensen had known Ben Kruse since he was a little boy living in Becker
and signed up to help. She sent her first box to him in May.
In return for the help, Vickie regularly updated Jorgensen and others on how her
son was doing.
Some of those updates still bring tears to Jorgensen?s eyes.
?He was gracious enough to allow her to share exactly what he was saying,?
Jorgensen said. ?Often times it was very difficult to hear. It?s difficult for a
mom to tell you that her son just told her that he?s OK with dying and if
something happens, he loves her. You hear enough of that and suddenly it?s not
the little boy you knew. Suddenly, he?s the face of a lot of soldiers.?
At one point, Ben Kruse sent an e-mail saying he loved getting all the packages,
but some soldiers were getting nothing. He asked them to add some extra to his
boxes and he?d start sharing.
?Having a kid his age, I felt horrible for his buddies that didn?t get
anything,? Jorgensen said.
She decided to do something about it, and asked Ben for the names and addresses
of some of those forgotten men and women.
She started with just two soldiers.
But it soon gained momentum.
Friends and family heard about it and wanted to help. A group now meets monthly
to pack boxes of items they donate.
As Jorgensen watched people gathering for the March meeting, she said, ?I have
to tell you, every time I stand in front of one of these groups, I am so humbled
and so in much in awe of the generosity of people. Everybody in this room, none
of them have anybody in the military. So it?s a nice pairing because you?ve got
people that don?t have anyone in the military with soldiers who don?t get
anything.?
Vickie Kruse traveled to Zimmerman from Iowa earlier this month for the March
meeting of Operation Minnesota Nice, where she spoke to the group and thanked
the volunteers. She said the care packages are a morale booster.
She read an e-mail from her son which said: ?I don?t think people know, when we
get motivating packages in the mail like that, we leave the base feeling prouder
than we did the day before. Not forgotten. Full of pride. We feel like a
respected soldier. People we don?t know send us stuff to make it better. For the
most part it isn?t about the stuff. It?s the fact that we still have support.?
?Thanks for saving our world,? child writes
Jorgensen?s brother, Frank Novak and his 6-year-old daughter, Kylee, are among
the volunteers who help pack and send the boxes each month.
?It?s just cool to be able to help the soldiers,? Novak said.
His daughter has taken quite an interest in the operation. She colors pictures
for the soldier they adopted and helps pack the boxes. Kylee?s class got in on
the action, too, by making cards and writing letters to ?her? soldier.
One child wrote, ?Thanks for saving our world.?
Jorgensen?s aunt, Vi Spiering of Elk River, said she enjoys putting together the
care packages and doing her part to make the soldiers? lives more comfortable.
?I think it?s the most rewarding thing anyone can do,? Spiering said.
The group takes requests for items from the soldiers they have adopted.
Jorgensen said they once sent an electric blanket to a soldier in Afghanistan
with frostbite. They also have filled requests for a rice cooker, fine-point
Sharpie pens, eye drops, playing cards, socks and boresnakes for cleaning
weapons.
Staples going into virtually every box include Easy Mac, tuna, beef jerky and
baby wipes.
Interest is growing
There is a constant turnover of soldiers they adopt, as some come home and
others get deployed. More and more soldiers? names are coming in for adoption.
And that?s likely to continue. Ben Kruse has asked for permission to post a
flier in the USO in Kuwait City for soldiers just arriving who are staged in
Kuwait until departing for locations in Iraq.
But as the need for more boxes grows, so does the interest in Operation
Minnesota Nice.
Jorgensen said a unit is forming in St. Cloud. And, Jaycees groups in Shakopee
and Hopkins and the Land of Lakes Girl Scout Council are all interested in
helping.
Locally, new volunteers keep coming to the monthly meetings.
Al Graff of Zimmerman and his family attended their first Operation Minnesota
Nice meeting earlier this month. He was there with his wife, Sue, and their
kids, Allie, 12, and Austin, 9. ?I think it?s a great thing to do, I really do,?
Graff said.