Tasty way to give: Spaghetti for soldiers
JOLIET -- Cantigny Veterans of Foreign Wars will be full of volunteers helping to make and serve 1,400 spaghetti dinners from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 18.
There also will be a huge bake sale and raffles. Drawings also will be going on throughout the day and evening at the Horseshoe Drive post.
The dinner is a fundraiser for Operation Care Package, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that sends 150 packages each week to troops serving overseas.
For November, the shipping has stopped and the volunteers are busy getting things ready for the Christmas holidays.
The group has more than 12,000 handmade Christmas stockings that have come in from all over the country. The stockings now need to be filled and mailed.
Schools, businesses, churches and individuals have been helping but Operation Care Packages is in need of much support. The postage alone is expected to exceed $60,000, if the group meets its goal of sending to at least 10,000 troops.
Tickets for the dinner can be purchased in advance by calling Ted at 815-274-3828, or Debbie at 815-723-6960. Carryouts will be available.
Each day, Operation Care Package receives new requests for packages from soldiers and sailors. Many of these are men and women who don't receive much or any mail. And many who are just in desperate need of basic supplies such as socks, batteries, hygiene products and food.
Christmas cards and letters of support are also being excepted.
Items and donations can also be dropped or sent to: Operation Care Package, 611 Wilcox St., Joliet, IL 60435.
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