Ripley-Lieutenant Byrd Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution had the honor of packing up the donated items in preparation for mailing to military men and women who are currently deployed overseas.
Behind the home of Bob and Diana Lawrence of Hamersville, Ohio is a small yellow building with a sign for Troop Box Ministries. Throughout the month, one will see a flurry of activity in that little yellow building. There are deliveries of donated items from various church and civic organizations, as well as individuals. Donations include candy, jerky, flavored drink mixes to add to water, individual servings of soup, crackers, peanut butter, nuts, chap stick, eye drops, sundry items, decks of cards, Bibles, magazines (new and used), letters from children to “American Heroes”, prepaid international calling cards, socks, and almost anything else you can think of!
On other days, there are groups of individuals who come in to volunteer to unpack the donated items and place them on the shelving units inside. On yet another day, other volunteers come in and fold and tape the boxes in ready for packing. Volunteers help make the labels and complete the customs forms required for international mailing.
Ripley-Lieutenant Byrd Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently had the honor of packing up the donated items in preparation for mailing to military men and women who are currently deployed overseas. What a great opportunity to give ‘a little back’ to those who give so much to defend us, our freedom and our country.
Diana Lawrence started Troop Box Ministry, a registered 501c3 charitable organization several years ago. Her goal is to send at least one box of goodies a month to deployed service men and women and two during the holidays. The boxes we packed Monday had containers of home-made candy that was donated! Diana says it “brings a little bit of home to those so far away”. If you know of a soldier who is deployed and would like to have him added to the mailing list, you may contact Diana at 513-490-2398 or send her a message on Facebook. Diana is always in need of donations as well. She said when she first started Troop Box Ministry the cost to mail a box was $7.00 – today, that cost is $17.00. Most of the time these costs are covered by donations which are tax deductible.
If you are interested in donating items or volunteering at Troop Box Ministry, please call Diana. If you are interested in learning more about the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Ripley-Lieutenant Byrd Chapter, please contact Dee Watters, Vice Regent and Registrar at 937-238-3568 or email at Deew9275@gmail.com.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history, and support better education for our nation’s children. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 165,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org.