THEY WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR NEW HOME.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The two recent e-mails from Iraq taped to Carolyn Blashek's home computer tell the story. ``I live with 17 Marines and sailors in one room,'' a young Marine writes. ``Everyone got one of your care packages and everyone loved it, especially the cookies and Beanie Babies Sources: A Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal made by Ty Inc. Ty was founded by Ty Warner who promoted the line in specialty stores and gift shops. The Ty company's famous special "posable lining" is understuffed with plastic pellets (or "beans") rather than stuffing . ``The cookies are excellent and the Beanie Babies help us out a lot with the local kids. We give them candy and toys, and they give us the location of IEDs (improvised explosive devices Noun 1. improvised explosive device - an explosive device that is improvised I.E.D., IED explosive device - device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy ) in the area.'' The other e-mail, written by a medic medic: see alfalfa. , said Blashek's care packages have helped the troops in some unexpected ways. ``After our patients took the items they wanted, a soldier asked if he could take everything that was left,'' the medic wrote. ``Two weeks later, he returned and told us he had taken the boxes out on one of his patrols and given them to a couple of local families. ``These familes, in turn, gave out the names and locations of insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. in the area. Your boxes saved the lives of many soldiers who patrol the streets where these insurgents set up bombs. ``Thank you for all you've done for us. You never know how completely you can affect someone's life.'' Whenever Blashek got frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: and down this past week, thinking that maybe no one cares, she remembered the e-mails and kept on going. ``I'll use every penny we have and take out another loan on my house to keep going,'' she said Thursday. ``What we're doing for our troops is too important to stop now.'' Operation Gratitude Operation Gratitude is a non-profit, all-volunteer corporation that assembles and ships care packages to United States service members deployed overseas. Its mission is to lift morale and express appreciation of the work done by the American armed services. -- which started as Blashek's one-woman effort to send packages to troops who weren't getting any mail -- has grown with hundreds of volunteers. After sending more than 150,000 packages over the last three years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group needs a new home. Additional units and equipment have recently been assigned to the Army National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, which Operation Gratitude used for its holiday and patriotic drives. The National Guard needs the space back. ``We got so big we sort of took over the place,'' Blashek said. ``Our stuff was everywhere -- in the parking lot, motor pool and on the drill floor.'' School and city officials have been helping Operation Gratitude find a new location, and last week it looked as if they had. An outbuilding outbuilding n. a structure not connected with the primary residence on a parcel of property. This may include a shed, garage, barn, cabana, pool house, or cottage. behind the closed Granada Hills Hospital was vacant and available for six months before it would be leveled to make way for a high school being built on the site. It wouldn't be permanent, but volunteers could at least start stockpiling stock·pile n. A supply stored for future use, usually carefully accrued and maintained. tr.v. stock·piled, stock·pil·ing, stock·piles To accumulate and maintain a supply of for future use. supplies for their holiday drive. But last week, Blashek was informed that the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. legally could not allow Operation Gratitude to use the site because it would violate bidding requirements of the state Education Code. ``People had good intentions and wanted to help them out, but we just could not go around the Education Code,'' said Michele Meghrouni, an attorney for the school district. Now Blashek is back to square one. Operation Gratitude has to find a home by Oct. 1 so it can let corporations know where to send the supplies they donate for the troops' holiday packages. ``We are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. 7,000 to 10,000 square feet of relatively open space for assembling and storage,'' Blashek said. ``We just need a commitment of at least October through January for our holiday drive. I'll worry about the patriotic drive in May after that.'' If you can help Blashek's group, which works so hard to build the morale of troops overseas, call her at (818) 406-5057 or e-mail eblashek(at)aol.com. For information on the group, see www.operationgratitude.com. On a more positive note, the American flag will continue to fly from the flagpole on the front lawn of Becky Owens' home in Porter Ranch. As I reported a few weeks ago, the Renaissance at Porter Ranch Homeowners Association ordered Owens to remove the flagpole ``at once'' because it had been rejected by the association's Architectural Committee. But the homeowner's association had a change of heart after an attorney for Owens' son, Jeff BisCamp -- who installed the flagpole for his mom on July 4th -- reminded the association that federal and state laws guarantee citizens the right to fly the American flag on their property. ``After careful review and consideration ... it has been determined that the Association will not interfere with your right to maintain your flagpole on your lot,'' wrote Pearl Beaudin, the community manager for the Renaisance at Porter Ranch Homeowners Association. Owens wanted me to pass along her and Jeff's thanks to all the people who e-mailed their support. dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: In a Dec. 17, 2005, photo, Carolyn Blashek, left, and Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cowie hold the 100,000th box packed during the season by Operation Gratitude volunteers at the National Guard Armory for U.S. troops in harm's way harm's way n. A risky position; danger: a place for the children that is out of harm's way; ships that sail into harm's way. . With the military making much greater use of the armory, Blashek's group needs another site for Operation Gratitude. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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