Recap of our 2008, July 4th Love and Support Project

Here's something I forgot to post before. After our first project last year during our guys' deployment to Iraq, Diane/PA got local news coverage for our Love and Support From Home project.


From the Punxsutawney Spirit

Support group packs up goods, love for troops away from home

Written by Julie Ciaramella
Saturday, 14 June 2008






Postmaster John McBee helps to unload packages for troops
with Dot Hanley and Don Slovinsky at the post office. Hanley and
Slovinsky are grandparents of LCpl. Shane Hanley, who is
stationed in Iraq. (Photo by Julie Ciaramella/The
Punxsutawney Spirit)


PUNXSUTAWNEY -- The Fourth of July is about to get a bit
brighter for some Marines in Iraq, thanks to care packages
being sent to them in time for the holiday. A local group has
organized a project using donations from all over the country,
hoping to boost the morale of the Marines and let them know
that people are thinking of them at home. “It is our goal to bring
smiles to the faces of those who are so unselfishly serving our
country,” said the organizer of the project, Diane Hanley. “We
want to lift their spirits and morale as we send love and support
from home.” Hanley has a son serving in Iraq with Operation
Iraqi Freedom, LCpl. Corporal Shane Hanley, stationed with
the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine, 2nd Marine Division from Camp
LeJeune, N.C. He is a 2006 graduate of Punxsutawney Area
High School, and is engaged to Brandy Hoffman of Florida,
originally from Punxsutawney. Hanley’s parents, grandparents
--Don Slovinsky, and Dot and Pat Hanley -- and parents from
all over the United States whose sons are also serving in the
battalion, wanted to send packages to show appreciation for
the Marines’ service. They came together with volunteers,
many of whom worked nights and weekends on the project,
to put together 1,300 bags. Each soldier will receive socks,
candy, gum, drink mix, apple pie, water balloons -- for fun –
U.S. flag bandanas and messages from their parents. Children
from Bell Township, Jenks Hill and Longview Elementary
Schools -- as well as students from Alabama, Florida and
Virginia -- wrote letters to include in the boxes. Volunteers
then placed the items in bags and tied them with red, white
and blue ribbons. “This is important to me because of my
grandson,” Dot Hanley said. “We want the kids over there to
know that we care about them back home.” Diane Hanley and
her son’s grandparents went to the post office Thursday and
Friday to mail the packages, sending 40 boxes weighing a tota
of 600 pounds. State Rep. Sam Smith donated money to help
pay for the postage, as did several businesses around
Punxsutawney. “Without the help of many in our community
who contributed, this project would never have been possible,”
Diane said. “We wholeheartedly thank those who were so kind
to donate.” They plan on coordinating another shipment in the
next few months. Diane Hanley noted that this would be a great
senior project for a Punxsutawney Area High School student.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help put packages
together or donate items can contact her at 938-8104.