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Monday, May 12, 2003

HUD Family Shows Support for American Troops, Overseas and at Home

While some HUD employees are serving in the military as part of a local Reserve call-up, a dramatically larger number of staff has close family members on duty in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. HUD's Mississippi Field Office is a good example: the staff has nine husbands, brothers, sisters, nephews and/or nieces overseas taking part in Operation Iraqi Freedom, with more loved ones stateside and awaiting orders.

The Mississippi Field Office staff was determined to show their support for the courageous men and women of our military and the office decided to create 'goody' baskets. Their idea was to make sure that every known relative of a staff member, whether they were deployed or stateside awaiting deployment, would receive a basket. The plan was to do it all in just one week; organization was essential, and the Admin Officer coordinated preparations.

The Mississippi Office staff provided all of the 'goodies,' and also would pay to ship the baskets overseas and to bases here in America. Every basket was filled with essentials, including toiletries, lip balm, and socks; motivational booklets; and plenty of fun stuff: cookies, crackers, beef jerky, hard candy, gum and chocolate. The baskets were wrapped in a cellophane bag - tied at the top with red, white and blue ribbon - and carefully packed in a shipping box. Larger items like 'stateside' quality toilet paper were added as packing material (and an unaccustomed luxury for men and women living in the desert with minimal creature comforts). Finally, each box had a card that said, "I'm such a lucky dog! Thanks again." and signed "Your HUD Family" with an American Flag pin attached.

Left: Paula Carruth, M.J. Roberts, and Margaret Gary. Right: (Standing) John Young, Louise Gee, Thelma Boutwell, Kay Thompson, Richard Stevens, Paula Carruth, M.J. Roberts, Claude Weathers, Margaret Gary. (Seated) Kendra Washington and Lora Douglas.

It just took one week to collect plenty of great items for the gift baskets, and they met their goal: every box was shipped by that Friday. HUD staff in Headquarters and across the nation demonstrate their support in many ways for family and friends thousands of miles from home, carrying out their mission to help free the Iraqi people. The Mississippi HUD office chose to show their support by creating special gift baskets that would bring some cheer - and remind the brave troops of the loved ones waiting for their return.

HUD's yellow ribbon shows support for America's military men and women.

Learn more about HUD's Veteran Resource Center (HUDVET), a unique partnership between National Veteran Service Organizations and the Department.