When Tessa White-Diemand’s brother and sister-in-law were stationed in Iraq in 2007, she and longtime friend, Jessica Gale-Tanner decided to do something special for the holiday season. Together, they hosted a care-packaging event to send “a touch of home” to soldiers deployed overseas. With support from the North Orange Grange and Diemand Farm, who have co-sponsored the project from the start, White-Diemand, who currently lives in Boston but grew up in Wendell, and Gale-Tanner, who lives in Orange, launched Operation Touch of Home.
The response from the community was overwhelming. Dozens of volunteers enlisted to help and donations from local businesses and caring citizens poured in.
“We thought it would be just one event,” White-Diemand said, “but the community was so supportive we said, ‘Yes, let’s do it again!’” And Operation Touch of Home became a biannual service project with packaging events in the spring and fall. Over the past nine years, OTOH has created over 750 care packages for soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Kuwait, and Germany, brightening the lives of American troops stationed far from home.
Care packages are assembled at the Community Church of North Orange and Tully. Volunteers hand-pick items to fill each box: toiletries, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, easy prep meals such as noodle cups and mac-n-cheese, popcorn and granola bars, and reading materials such as magazines and personal notes. “And,” White-Diemand added, “each package always gets handmade letters from students at the Swift River School. The letters from the kids are one of my favorite parts of the project,” she said. “It’s so wonderful to read what the kids have written – things like, ‘Stay safe,’ ‘I love you,’ ‘My hero.’ The letters are so sweet, so genuine.”
Lisa Aubin has been liaison between the school and OTOH from the beginning. She is a second-grade teacher at Swift River, a small, rural school for the towns of Wendell and New Salem, with about 170 students in grades pre-k through six. “I have helped Tessa, who is an alumna of the school and a personal family friend, with getting classrooms to contribute letters and/or drawings to soldiers,” Aubin said. “The art teacher has also been involved in the past, having them do special envelopes or projects. Older grades use it as a letter-writing lesson.”
“We have heard from soldiers that they like to hear about things back home,” Aubin explained. “So we present it to the children that way – that we are writing to share some experiences from home. This time of year soldiers might get stories about Halloween, fall, soccer, games the children played, things they do at school or with their families. “
It’s these types of personal connections and small comforts that boost morale for servicemen and women. Care packages help break the monotony of military life while representing homeland support. “It is so rewarding to know we are brightening their day, their week, their month even,” White-Diemand said. She also mentioned how comforted family members are when they know their loved ones are being cared for in this way.
Throughout its mission, OTOH has received the names and addresses of soldiers deployed overseas through word of mouth. In the early years, they were sending 50, 75, and upwards of 90 packages a year. “We rely on family and friends to refer soldiers,” explained White-Diemand. “My brother and sister-in-law have referred deployed soldiers whenever they could. And we’ve had luck with news articles and social media.” But as the number of deployed soldiers has decreased over the years, so has the number of names and addresses OTOH has received. Material support has also fluctuated depending on what is in the forefront of the news. Despite these challenges, Operation Touch of Home continued to create care packages, because White-Diemand said, “We kept hearing from soldiers how much they appreciated the personal reminders of home. How thankful they were of our efforts, and that they were being thought of back home.”
One of the soldiers getting a special box this holiday season was stationed overseas during the summer, and has not received a single package since he was deployed. “It’s touching to know we’ll be bringing him a bright spot during his deployment,” White-Diemand said. He is one of a dozen soldiers who will be getting the last round of OTOH care packages, as the project is being put on hold indefinitely.
Operation Touch of Home held their last packaging event on Nov. 5, when a small group of volunteers, all of whom have been together since the beginning, gathered at the Community Church. With financial and material support from Walmart, Hannaford, Grrr Gear, and Hamshaw Lumber – all located in the town of Orange, as well as the Orange Police and Fire Departments – OTOH completed their last assignment. They organized supplies, filled out customs forms, personalized letters, and added notes from school kids. They sealed and posted boxes to soldiers stationed overseas, fulfilling their mission to deliver “a touch of home.”
“I’m sad to see it end,” White-Diemand admitted. “It’s been a lot of fun. When Jess and I began, we had no idea of how many people OTOH would reach. From deployed soldiers and veterans to military families and community members, it’s been amazing!”