Seniors, children adopt four soldiers fighting overseas Operation Comfort Package sends TLC to soldiers abroad BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Sgt. Adriel Gonzalez Five-year-old Maia Patel said it best when she said the township's Operation Comfort Package program was formed to send "love" to the men and women fighting in the Iraq War. The Wood-bridge YMCA and the township have adopted four men in the United States Army 82nd Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, HHC, Ranger Team 3, including Sgt. Adriel Gonzalez. The 82nd Airborne Division, which is located at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, provides the ability to begin executing a strategic airborne forcible entry into any area of the world within 18 hours of notification. Their primary mission is airfield and seaport seizure. On the ground, they provide the secured terrain and facilities to rapidly receive additional combat forces. The division is the nation's strategic offensive force, maintaining the highest state of combat readiness. Lois Griffin, the senior and community services director at the Woodbridge YMCA, spearheaded the program. SCOTT PILLING staff Children fill care packages to be sent to soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division at the Woodbridge Community Center on March 24. "I was just having a general conversation with Carmen Bernier in a CPR training class two weeks ago," said Lois Griffin. "It was a really serendipitous moment. We were the two oldest people there and we were fretting because we had to take a test." During their conversation, Bernier, who is a preschool assistant teacher at the YMCA, told Griffin that she and her daughter were trying to gather items together to send over to her daughter's husband, Sgt. Adriel Gonzalez, who is the team leader of the 4th Brigade Combat team, but it was getting too expensive. The team is currently in Kandahar, Afghanistan. "She [Carmen] said they [Carmen and her daughter] decided to send items because some of the men in the [4th Brigade] were not getting any packages or letters from any family or friends," said Griffin. In a two-week span, Griffin decided to adopt the team of four men. She got the group of seniors and the preschool class from the YMCA together to gather items and write cards to them. Preschool teacher Sharon Hanley said they did a whole lesson plan for the program. The preschool contains approximately 55 children between 3-5 years old. "We taught them where Afghanistan is and why we are here gathering all this stuff to send overseas," said Hanley. Mayor John E. McCormac held a press conference on March 23 with over 20 seniors and preschoolers who helped with the Operation Comfort Package program. The preschoolers held up the cards that they made, some of pretty flowers, a map and one of Mars. They held up a banner that read "God Bless Ranger 3." After the press conference, the group began packing the comfort items and toiletries to send off to the team. "This is a true act of giving, which combines two generations - senior residents and preschool children coming together to aid soldiers stationed overseas," said McCormac. "I am proud of this effort and hope that these few items bring a measure of comfort to Sgt. Gonzalez and his Ranger Team members." The comfort items and toiletries included items such as toothpaste, tooth brushes, mouthwash, shaving cream, shampoo, tissue boxes, Wet Ones, liquid bath soap, military "green" socks, sunblock, lip balm, Band-Aids, anti-bacterial ointments, pens, paper, books, Sports Illustrated magazines, Cup o' Noodles, peanut butter crackers, gummy bears, chocolate chip cookies, gum, instant oatmeal, instant coffee, hot chocolate and much more. "It's great to see this happen," said Adriel Gonzalez's father-in-law Wilfredo Bernier, who wore his own U.S. Army uniform at the press conference. "I'm sure this will make them happy to see people back here doing something for them." Griffin said they would continue the Operation Comfort Package program by collecting comfort items for Woodbridge-area soldiers. "We have two former YMCA lifeguards - one 21 years old and one 19 years old - that we found out are going to be deployed to Iraq in June," she said. "When they complete their military training and are in Iraq, we will adopt them along with the four men that we have adopted already." Anyone wishing to donate comfort items are encouraged to contact Lois Griffin at the YMCA at the Woodbridge Community Center at (732) 596-4053.