436 TS builds school kits for Operation Iraqi Children

  • Published
  • By Maj. Thomas Peralta
  • 436th Training Squadron Director of Operations
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Dyess Airmen from the 436th Training Squadron recently collected donations for the Operation Iraqi Children program to aid Iraqi schools and families who do not have access to basic academic supplies or equipment.

Operation Iraqi Children is a charity effort founded in 2004 by actor Gary Sinise and author Laura Hillenbrand. Since its inception, U.S. military units from each branch of service, both in-theater and in garrison, have participated. To date, the national OIC program has shipped more than 260,000 complete school supply kits, with more than half a million toys and sports equipment, such as soccer balls and shoes.

The 436 TS OIC project committee put out the call for specifically requested supplies that could be packaged together into OIC School Kits. Requested items included everything from scissors and rulers, to composition notebooks and colored pencils. Volunteers in the squadron assembled the school kits during their off-duty hours.

"The response was amazing," said Master Sgt. R. DeBrady Ford, 436 TS command and control academics instructor and OIC project chairman. "We quickly surpassed our goal, and built enough kits for nearly two entire classrooms of Iraqi children."

Sergeant Ford's team prepared the kits for shipping to the OIC Warehouse in Kansas City, Mo. From there, the school kits will be shipped in bulk to Iraq, where military units in the field will present them to local children and schools in their areas of responsibility.

"It's a great way to lend a helping hand to the war-torn children in Iraq," Sergeant Ford added. "It's nice to be able to have such a lasting effect on a young person's life from so far away."

For more information on the Operation Iraqi Children program, logon to www.operationiraqichildren.org.