Above: Packing up goodies at a past troop drive
On Saturday and Sunday, Southborough resident Lisa Braccio and her friends will hold their 14th semi-annual care package drive for the troops at the Southborough Senior Center. They’re looking for your help with donations of food and drinks, personal care necessities, and entertainment items.
Braccio said some of the troops the drive supports are stationed in remote areas of Afghanistan with limited access to even basic necessity like water. “They are mostly eating MREs three meals a day, so a granola bar or an Oreo cookie from home is like Christmas,” she said.
This weekend’s drive will be held in honor of SFC Michael DuFault, a Northborough native and Algonquin grad who has served five tours of duty – three in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.
“It is a true pleasure for our community to be able to honor such an amazing young man,” Braccio said. “With the ten-year anniversary of the Afghan war just passing on October 7, I think it is really important for our service members to know that they are not forgotten.”
Braccio has been organizing troop drives twice a year since 2005, and has shipped off thousands of pounds of “touches and tastes of home” to grateful troops overseas. This year she said the troop drive will get an extra boost thanks to Stop & Shop, which during the month of September collected items to be donated from its customers.
Braccio says no donation is too small. Check out this flyer for a list of requested items. You can also make monetary donations to help with the cost of shipping. Residents are also asked to make cards for the troops to thank them for their service.
You can drop off items at the Senior Center (9 Cordaville Road) on Saturday, October 15 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and Sunday, October 16 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
