People find friendship and support in many different
relationships, but for Hollister mothers and wives of U.S. troops
overseas, they find them in stuffing care packages for their loved
ones.
People find friendship and support in many different relationships, but for Hollister mothers and wives of U.S. troops overseas, they find them in stuffing care packages for their loved ones.
With the closest military support groups more than an hour away in Modesto and San Jose, military families in Hollister are left to deal with their loved ones deployment on their own. Through word of mouth, a few have found each other and are continuing to send packages, while forming a community support group at the same time.
Mothers Azie Salvas and Felicidad Kankelborg remember funny times when their boys played baseball together as kids. Now all grown up, Bryan Rodriquez and Jerry Kankelborg are both traveling through the dangerous terrain of Iraq. Filling boxes with jerky, powdered Gatorade, toothpaste, insect repellent and lip balm brings their mothers what little comfort they can find.
“I get so excited when I go shopping for them,” Salvas said. “I’m like a maniac going down the aisles and then I get home and Ziploc everything.”
Salvas and the others have been buying supplies and filling care packages for months, and are now looking to the community to join in and support the troops.
There are a few men in Bryan’s group not getting any packages, so Salvas tries to send enough for all, which she said, can add up to $200 or $300 a month.
“My son said it’s like Christmas for them when they get a package,” she said. “He told me they all sit around the box and dig in.”
Bryan and his fellow soldiers place the Chef Boyardee ravioli cups Salvas sends on top of their Humvees to warm them before eating. She said some of their other favorites are sunflower seeds and hard candies.
Felicidad Kankelborg’s care packages include more than food and toiletries. Her son, Jerry, is a medic stationed in Fallujah. She sends him latex gloves and face masks because the military doesn’t supply him with enough.
“When he told me he didn’t have gloves I was like ‘Oh my God, Jerry, you need them because you’re handling blood,'” she said. “I also send him Sleepy Time Tea because he was having a hard time sleeping at night.”
The most important and one of the most pricey items on the soldiers’ list are phone cards. The scariest part of her son being in Fallujah is the day-to-day worry about if he’s alive, Kankelborg said
“I’ll get phone calls once a week and then all of a sudden, like right now I haven’t heard from him in 14 days,” she said. “The soldiers don’t have any money over there, so without our help they can’t call home.”
Lauretta Avina is fortunate to be able to speak with her husband on a fairly regular basis. Her husband, Sgt. 1st Class (CQ) John Avina spends most of his time near a headquarters where he can use the phone. He will be deployed in Iraq until March 2005. She has teamed up with Salvas and Kankelborg for support.
“We’re hoping to start up some fund-raisers in the next couple months so others in the community can help,” she said.
The idea of coming to the community for support has also allowed these women to begin forming their own military family support group in Hollister.
For more information about getting involved, call 637-4463.
