MIDDLETOWN — The township has reactivated the Support the Troops program to collect supplies for U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Nicholas Abbate, a lifelong township resident stationed in Afghanistan.
Donations will be accepted through April 5 at Middletown Town Hall, 1 Kings Highway, and the Middletown Main Library, 55 New Monmouth Road.
Abbate, a weapons company platoon commander, and his 83-member infantry unit are dispersed throughout the Helmand Province. Suggested donations include black boot socks, since there are no showers and soldiers must change their socks often. Instant foods such as Ramen noodles, Easy Mac, tea bags, hot cocoa, and other foods that require only hot water to prepare, are a welcome respite from daily MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat).
Other needed supplies include batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 3-volt), cookies and other snacks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors and non-aerosol shaving cream, baby wipes, toilet paper, cotton-tip swabs, and pens. Children’s artwork and personal notes from home are always a welcome addition to care packages.
Abbate is a graduate of St. James Grammar School, Red Bank, and Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2006 and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. After completing an infantry officer course, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment Marines stationed in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Abbate served a tour of duty in Iraq before heading to Afghanistan.
More than two tons of supplies donated by local businesses and families have been shipped to soldiers serving in the Middle East since 2007. Middletown’s Support the Troops program, spearheaded by Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger, previously adopted paratroopers from Charlie Company, 1BSTB (Special Troops Battalion), 82nd Airborne Division during their 2007-08 deployment to Iraq, and Army Sgt. Eric McCoy, Delta Company, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, during his 2008-09 deployment to Iraq.
The program is managed through the township’s Emergency Management Office and is supported by Middletown Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2179. Call Cindy Herrschaft at 732-615-2287 for more information.