In July of 2006, Renee Zeichner, Sue Victor and Chris Tooker of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library staff began to send packages to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who were not receiving any mail from home. With a lot of hard work and the generosity of friends and family, they have sent an amazing 766 packages to date.

There is a collection drum set up near the front door of the library, as you exit from the Circulation Desk. The soldiers appreciate any personal toiletry items, powdered drink mixes and snacks. Travel and sample-sized items are best as the boxes fill up quickly. It costs $8.95 to mail each box, so checks made out to "For Our Soldiers" will be used to cover those postage costs.

The thank you letters from the soldiers are so moving. The library has compiled them in a notebook that is displayed near the collection drum. The following letter is an example of the courage and character of the young men and women who are serving our country.

Thank you for your packages! It was like Christmas tonight as everybody was cutting them open and going through them...

My name is SSG Matthew Carder. I'm from a small town in northwest Ohio. I've been in the Army for 10 1/2 years. I'm a medic in a military police battalion. My first deployment after Sept. 11, 2001 was to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for 16 months. Since I was spending a lot of time on beaches and living in the Caribbean, I felt that I needed to come to Iraq or I would feel I hadn't done my part. So when my battalion got called up to come over here I volunteered to come. Right about now I wonder what I was thinking but I will never regret it. The Iraqi people LOVE us and only want the best for their country. They see us as their only hope for the future. I guess I'm not sure why we entered this war, was it right or wrong. I'm not sure what really goes on in Washington at all. One thing I'm sure of is that we've given most of these people something they NEVER dreamed of... Hope! Yes a lot of American soldiers have died but we all know the cost when we come here. I've lost three of my friends since Sept. 11 and I can tell you they all left this Earth doing what they loved. And it was worth the price they paid! I always hear them say on the news that a soldier "paid the supreme sacrifice." A sacrifice is something you give up even though you don't want to. I like to refer to it as they gave "the ultimate gift." The true heroes are the families left behind.

I have a wife and two children and they did not sign up for this. They support me 200 percent and do very well whenever I'm away but it's not the life they chose. It's the life I chose. So, please pray for the families and if you ever see a military family, be sure to thank them also.

It's really great of people like you to take time to sit down and send us packages and cards. The days go slow here, and words of encouragement seem to always arrive at just the right time. Thank you!

Well, I'll let you go for now! Thank you again for supporting the soldiers of OUR GREAT NATION!

Sincerely, Matthew R. Carder
SSG, USAR NCOIC, ICOTA / TMC
Camp Bucca, Iraq