Dave Andryshak glanced at the vans parked at the Orange County Veterans Memorial Cemetery. “We have a local Sam’s Club here,” he quipped.
Mr. Andryshak is the superintendent of the cemetery. But on Monday morning, he was focused on the living rather than the deceased members of the military. He was due to drive one of the vans to Carmel with donations for our troops in the Middle East.
How did he get involved? It started with a Feb. 10 Facebook post from County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who is currently deployed with his Navy Reserve unit. Mr. Neuhaus, a lieutenant commander, suggested items American service people would like to get from home. The list included powdered drinks, hand sanitizer, lip balm, razors, Q-tips and snack foods.
The response was overwhelming. The contributions poured into the Veterans Service Agency, which has its headquarters at the cemetery in Goshen.
As donations piled up, the staff members stored them in the basement. On March 11, it was time to send the gifts overseas. But how do you do that? The task of wrapping and addressing the packages could overwhelm a small staff. But it would be a routine assignment for an organization in Putnam County.
United for the Troops, formed in 2007, has a roster of 300 volunteers who routinely ship items to the military. The organization agreed to help. So on Monday morning two heavily stuffed vans headed to the organization’s headquarters in Carmel.
But the vans didn’t leave right away. They hung around long enough to accept some last minute donations. Mr. Andryshak estimated that the final load was 1,000 pounds with Handi Wipes accounting for about half the weight.
Mr. Neuhaus was delighted with the response. “This is a wonderful way to pay tribute to those who proudly serve our country,” he said. “I want to thank [Veterans Service Agency Director] Christian Farrell and his staff for coordinating this drive with my staff and Jim Rathschmidt from United for the Troops.”
