In some ways, Operation Interdependence – which sends letters and packages to troops serving overseas – seems to live up to the old U.S. Postal Services motto, “Neither rain, nor snow nor sleet will keep them from their appointed rounds.”
Instead, volunteers working for the packaging sending group might need to change the saying slightly, reflecting the movie productions, natural disasters and building mishaps that have posed obstacles for them over the last several years.
Operation Interdependence, which is a civilian-to-military delivery system that serves as a program for Americans to demonstrate their support, started in Bayonne in 2003 in order to show support for American military sent overseas.
Dani Ward, a local real estate agent, got together with school officials to organize a letter-writing campaign in order to help bolster the morale of soldiers in conflict situations.
Ward hooked up with the national organization and began working out of her father’s home, putting together packages containing some of the basic comforts of home, such as razors, toothpaste, candy and such. Most importantly, each package contained a letter from someone here to help make sure that military personnel knew someone cared about them and what they were doing.
When Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, the volunteers also began shipments there, and continue to do so even though the disaster area has since been forgotten by many news organizations.
“We just sent 9,000 pounds of clothing there,” said Sister Anne. “They dispersed the clothing the same day.”
“Catholic Charities called from New Orleans saying they couldn’t believe it,” said Sister Mary.
Donations from numerous organizations and individuals began to pile in, and Operation Interdependence moved to an office on Broadway. When Bayonne became a regional center, the group moved to a new location at the former Military Ocean Terminal – in a section of what serves as a movie studio.
“I started out in my father’s house when he passed away,” Ward recalled.
Able to co-exist with TV shows and the filming of advertisements, the volunteer crew that includes two nuns from St. Andrews had to relocate again when crews from the “Bourne” film series came in to use the studio space to prepare the fleet of cars needed for the action film.
“They were very nice and even helped us pack up our materials,” Ward said.
In some ways, the move was an improvement – relocating the operation to a nearby building that had served as Tom Cruise’s dressing room during the filming of the 2005 blockbuster, “War of the Worlds.”
Then the rain came, and then came the cold. One night, Ward got a call saying that the roof had leaked. When she arrived down at the building, she found the front door encased in ice so thick she couldn’t get in, and was forced to use the side door. Inside, disaster had spread through half the building, ruining a significant portion of the items stored in that section. Due to the quick thinking and the help of volunteers much was saved and relocated. Yet, half of the building still cannot be used.
But the group still continued to receive donations, and continued to pack individual packages to send to the troops.
On this day in late April, Sister Anne and Sister Mary are hard at work, putting items into plastic bags and the plastic bags into cartons. The goody bags that go into the packages are quart-size Zip-Lock bags that are sent to pre-designated military units with letters included in each bag.
Many of the letters come from Bayonne school children, thanks to a letter writing campaign instituted by Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan, who is also on hand this day to see the progress.
More than 51 cartons are sitting in one of the dry rooms waiting to be shipped to Iraq, Afghanistan and the horn of Africa where American troops are stationed. This shipment means that 2,550 soldiers will get a package from home.
After four years, the Bayonne center has reached more than 120,000 troops in the field.
“We usually send shipments at the end of every month,” Ward said. “One of our volunteers works with a trucking company, so we get shipping for free.”
The number of volunteers varies, but more than a dozen local residents are usually involved.
Donations come from numerous places. Miss Sixty gave clothing for the Katrina relief. A national convention for convenience stores in Las Vegas donated pallets of goods including coffee, peanuts, mints and cookies. Some of the soda and coffee drinks cannot be shipped overseas, so the two nuns deliver these to local homeless shelters.
In some cases, homeless people at St. Joseph’s food pantry in Hoboken and other soup kitchens are drinking some of the most expensive soft drinks currently on the market, thanks to the donation.
Even the Boston Red Sox organization has donated to the relief effort, giving wristbands that are put in every bag. This promotion doesn’t sit well with some of the volunteers, who are diehard New York Yankees fans.
“But we send what we get and we have contacted the New York Yankees to see if they had anything to donate,” Ward said.
Both of the nuns laughed and said if the New York Yankees do donate anything, they should send Yankees Short Stop Derek Jeter to deliver the goods.
Even NASCAR has donated items that are included in the packages, Ward said.
Yet as significant as the donations are, there is never enough, and Ward said she is always seeking new donations so that the volunteers can keep the flow going to the troops.
“We can send individual packets of dry soup, but not canned soup,” she said. “Some people send larger packages. We break them up so that more soldiers can get something.”
Pencils, razors, and individual toiletries are always welcome.
Yet equally important are the letters included in each package.
“Students from every school in Bayonne have been writing letters,” McGeehan said.
While Bayonne students are very active, Ward has been seeking support from the other school districts throughout Hudson County, and has received positive replies from several school districts, which may soon get involved with writing the troops.
This effort has not gone unnoticed.
In a ceremony held two years ago at the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, Tony and Dani Jean Ward, along with their four children accepted an award on behalf of Operation Interdependence (OI) and thousands of volunteers across the country.
Perhaps more importantly, Ward recently received a response from the troops in the field.
Captain Jack Windes, the commander of the Apache Helicopter Company deployed just north of Baghdad, sent a letter of thanks and a flag, which flew over the unit’s base.
“Recently, you sent my soldiers and I some things for our Christmas party,” Windes wrote. “I just wanted to write and say thank you very much for you contribution. We in Delta Company are very appreciative of all the support that we have received from you and your fellow Americans during these trying times.”
For more detailed information about packages, go on line to http://www. www.oidelivers.com.
People wishing to donate can send items or checks to: A.J. Ward Real Estate, 205 Broadway, Bayonne, N.J. 07002. Checks should be made payable to: Operation Interdependence.