Precision in packing was the order for the day as the local Blue Star Mothers gathered June 15 at McCurdy School cafeteria to fill boxes with goodies and necessities for local men and women stationed in war-torn countries.
Blue Star Mothers is a national organization with hundreds of chapters all over the country, composed of women brought together by the common thread of having an adult child stationed somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan.
The local chapter holds fundraisers throughout the year but gathers in June and December to put “care packages” together for 50 people stationed overseas.
President Marilyn Peabody had the packing down to a science after practicing the night before, when the group of volunteers set up the horseshoe-shaped assembly line.
Peabody took the volunteers around the tables to show them a system to ensure an impossible amount of goods made it into each box.
A copy of the Rio Grande SUN reinforced the bottom of the box, followed by three boxes of Girl Scout cookies, donated by local troops.
“Then you need to keep the weight toward the bottom,” Peabody said as she shifted a can of Beanie Weenies to its resting place.
On top of the mix went stationery, a paperback murder mystery (donated by Friends of the Library), granola, Ramen noodles and some instant punch. Squeezed in a crack is a deck of playing cards, donated by Buffalo Thunder Casino.
“It’s not going to fit,” one volunteer said.
“Trust her,” Blue Star Mothers Treasurer Norma Robinson said. “She’s done this many times and it all fits.”
The night before Kountry Kidz 4-H Club, led by Elizabeth Ronquillo, set up the stations of goods and created the assembly line, based on Peabody’s extensive knowledge of packing a box with about 50 items.
Peabody pulled off the miraculous feat Saturday morning, topping the box with a smashed down roll of toilet tissue, candy and a New Mexico Magazine.
The end of the line is two men (cheering the women to completion) who close and tape shut the boxes.
It costs $16.95 to ship the boxes and Peabody said they seek sponsorship of the shipping costs throughout the year. She had 15 people donate $20 each, so the group had to cover the remaining 35 boxes.
“It’s alright,” Peabody said. “We’ve fund-raised enough that we have the money to cover the postage for the other 35 boxes.”
Each soldier also gets a card made by McCurdy Mission’s Camp Stars summer program. The group of mostly elementary students also donated green chile. McCurdy Mission Director Patsy Alvarado said the Camp participants chose that.
“This week we prayed for our people overseas and the children voted, and decided to send green chile to them,” Alvarado said. “Everybody likes green chile and it says Northern New Mexico.”
Peabody said the local chapter is participating in the national Paws and Stripes program. The goal is to raise $2,500 to train a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder service dog.
They will be fund-raising for that program through the summer.
Valley National Bank and Los Alamos National Bank allow the group to fund-raise in the banks’ lobbies, Peabody said.