(Editor's Note: Steve C. Fernandez is a firefighter with the Stewart Manor Firer Department.)

As an educator and future administrator, I can truly say that the children of the Long Island/metro area deserve an A+ in citizenship. The First Battalion Fire Departments, headed by the Stewart Manor Fire Department (SMFD), initiated a project to support wounded warriors. This project began last year with the support of the SMFD, under the guidance of Bill Grogan. The project was to bring some holiday cheer to the soldiers who were wounded defending the country overseas.

Supporting the troops is not new for the SMFD. Then Chief Danny O'Keefe initiated a drive for care packages for the troops as part of the 2005 Fourth of July parade. It was a big success with local residents contributing enough items to fill more than 20 large boxes. With funding by the local Lion's Club, those boxes were shipped to a Stewart Manor resident and his unit serving in Iraq. Late that same summer, SMFD Firefighter Bill Grogan ran a care package drive as part of the Stewart Manor Village pool party and barbecue. This time almost a dozen boxes were filled. Those boxes, along with three-dozen First Battalion T-shirts, were hand delivered for Christmas 2005 by three members of the SMFD to wounded troops at the Bethesda Naval Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

At the 2006 pool party, the SMFD collected more goodies for the troops, this time concentrating on stuffed toys and animals. These items were shipped to troops and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan for distribution to the children there in an effort to bond with the next generation. This extraordinary program has been run for over a year, jointly with Adopt a Battalion, Knights of Columbus Council 6911 in Massapequa Park (AAB). Hundreds of stuffed animals and toys contributed by local area residents have been shipped by AAB over that time. That drive is ongoing. Any contributions residents wish to make may be dropped off at Stewart Manor Village Hall.

In late October 2006, Bill announced to the fire department that he was going to contact Bethesda Naval Hospital and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for this year's project. Chief Ronald Sopp and the officers of the SMFD provided total support and spread the word to other First Battalion fire departments. In less than two weeks, several other departments enthusiastically signed on, including the Floral Park Fire Department, Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department, New Hyde Park Fire Department, Garden City Fire Department, Garden City Park Fire Department and the Bellerose Terrace Fire Department.

As this project began to develop, I was asked to see if I could get the schools where I work involved. I am a teacher in New York City and I was an administrative intern in Elmont at the time of the request. I said that I would spread the word and see if there was any interest. The reaction was overwhelming. Different members of the fire department who had connections with schools also spread the word and their support was also overwhelming. My wife is a Girl Scout leader and suggested that I contact the Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts spread my letter through their email, which included all of Nassau County, including the Boy Scouts. I was soon contacted by a member of our fire department who is a Cub Scout leader. He told me that he received the letter I had sent to the Girl Scouts!

The turnout of care packages by the schools and community-based organizations was outstanding! These groups only had a one-month period in which to contact all that would be interested and gather their materials. This response is applaudable and should not go unrecognized. I would like to begin by recognizing the members of the SMFD that stepped up to contact some schools: Bob Barbieri, Tommy Skinner, Doug Stewart, Chief Sopp and Peter Williams. Next, I would like to recognize the schools that contributed this year: St. Anne's School in Garden City, St. Catherine of Sienna School in Franklin Square, Covert Avenue School, Stewart Manor School and P.S. 135Q of the New York City Public Schools.

I would also like to thank the Girl Scouts of West Hempstead/Franklin Square for all their support and contributions. And, the Garden City Library for contributing several boxes of books, thanks to the efforts of Nicole Matteini. A very special thank-you to Mayor Phil Guarnieri of Floral Park and the Floral Park village board for the use of Centennial Hall. Finally, we also had some corporations make significant contributions: The Sock Factory in Mineola through Carl Barone and Aetna of Hartford, CT through Bill Grogan.

Thank you to all who put in their valuable time and effort and more importantly, their generosity for making Bill's dream of Operation Wounded Warrior 2006 come true. See you all again in 2007 and until all of our troops are home and safe. If you would like to be part of the mission for 2007, contact the Stewart Manor Fire Department at 120 Covert Avenue, Stewart Manor, NY 11530 or www.stewartmanorfire.org. Please reference your request to Operation Wounded Warrior 2007.