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HOPEWELL: Local women support troops in Afghanistan

By Dennis O’Neill, Special Writer
   It all began with a blanket, a box of brownies, and a band of 25 young soldiers hungering for a taste of home in the harsh and frigid mountains of Afghanistan.
   When Hopewell resident Ruth Allen’s 20-year-old nephew Terrin Phillips deployed to Afghanistan last January, she sent him a hand-tied blanket to keep him warm.
   ”When he got the blanket, he told me all his buddies wanted one, too,” Ms. Allen said. “I felt bad for all of them because it was so cold over there.”
   She solicited the help of her sister-in-law, lifelong Hopewell resident Linda Allen, and 25 more blankets were tied and shipped to Phillips’ unit stationed at Kandahar Airfield.
   ”The blankets became very popular at the base,” Ruth Allen said. “They used them to keep warm, hung them as privacy dividers, sat on them as cushions or mounted them as wall hangings to remind them of home.”
   When volunteers from Phillips’ unit cleared a foot of snow off a workshop roof for Army carpenters, the woodworkers asked about the blankets. “Terrin promised them blankets if they would build shelves his group needed at the airbase,” Ruth Allen said. The carpenters quickly shook on the deal and more blankets were sent from Hopewell to Afghanistan — courtesy of Ruth and Linda Allen.
   It wasn’t long before the two Allen women learned that Phillips’ unit was using extra blankets for more than bartering on their base. They also were giving them away to field medics to wrap wounded comrades. “We found out that medics were wrapping wounded soldiers in the blankets to help stabilize them when they medivaced them to hospitals,” said Linda Allen. “Sometimes they were flown out with nothing else but those blankets to help them keep warm and remind them of home. That’s why we started sending extras.”
   Blanket shipments quickly escalated to holiday care packages of toiletries, sunscreen, batteries, mosquito netting, snacks and home-made baked goods — including cakes baked in canning jars to keep them fresh on their long journey to Kandahar.
   ”Terrin told us that some of the guys didn’t get anything for the holidays from home because they had no family, or their families couldn’t afford to ship many things,” said Ruth Allen. “We began sending them all holiday packages to let them know people back here were thinking about them.”
   When the burgeoning troop-support project became more than they could handle financially on their own, they turned to their church family for help. Both women are members of Calvary Baptist Church in Hopewell. They published a list of needed items and placed a collection tub in the church’s vestibule. “Every week that bucket would be full,” Linda Allen said. “Everyone in the church was very generous — including helping us with shipping costs.”
   Hopewell resident Kate Fedor learned about the project from a church email sent by Ruth Allen, who also serves as the church’s administrative assistant. Ms. Fedor admitted that — like many people — she had become desensitized to a war that has lasted more than a decade. However, when she received news that her son-in-law of only six months, Army PFC Jeff Barrett, was being deployed to Afghanistan, her perspective quickly changed.
   ”It was very difficult watching my daughter go through the first week or two of Jeff’s deployment,” Ms. Fedor said. “I was thrilled when he was included in the church’s prayers and then that evolved into sending him packages. It became very personal to me and raised my awareness that there are really many young kids over there that need our support whether we believe in the war or not.”
   Kate’s daughter Alex (Fedor) Barrett, grew up in Hopewell, but now resides in Washington State. She recounts that along with receiving supportive emails from Ruth Allen after her husband’s deployment, she also began receiving bewildered emails from her husband asking who was this Ruth sending him packages from Hopewell, New Jersey.
   ”It really surprised him that someone outside the family cared about him and the other guys that much,” Ms. Barrett said. “These guys go through so much depression being so far away from home. When they don’t get anything — even just a letter — it seems like nobody cares. It’s like Christmas for them whenever they get a package. And knowing people care and are thinking about them – that they’re not just gone – means a lot to them.”
   When Ruth and Linda Allen learned that five Hopewell residents serving in the National Guard were being deployed to Afghanistan last March — including Peter Novobilsky and Sean Calhoun — they added their names to the growing list of blanket and care package recipients.
   ”It really surprised me at first, how much effort these two women were putting into this,” said Hopewell resident Allison Novobilsky. “When your son is serving in the armed forces on the other side of the world there is a lot of emotional stress. They genuinely cared about me and offered support when I really needed it. They were God’s blessing to me.”
   Ms. Novobilsky is able to Skype a 10-minute conversation with her son, Peter, most weekends. He’s told her that the blankets and care packages he and others have received are great moral boosters that help lessen the distance between Afghanistan and Hopewell.
   ”It really makes him feel good that people back home are still thinking about him and want to support him and the troops,” Ms. Novobilsky said. “He really appreciates that he’s not forgotten and that people are praying for him and waiting for his return.”
   As word spread in the Hopewell community about the two women spearheading support for troops deployed in Afghanistan, more people asked to help. “Pennington Market gave us stuff to send, Dr. Dan Saporito donated dental care items, and even the American Legion’s Women’s Auxiliary gave us a donation before they disbanded as a group because they loved the idea of how we were supporting the troops — especially local soldiers,” Linda Allen said.
   Unexpected support also came from as far as the Black Hills of South Dakota. When owners of the Crazy Horse Memorial learned that Terrin Phillips unit’s tag name was Crazy Horse, they began shipping care packages of items from their museum gift shop.
   ”People have been willing to help, but they didn’t know how,” said Ruth Allen. “Once they saw things they could do, all kinds of people began to pitch in – even a 90-year old woman who had served in World War II helped us tie blankets because she thought it was important to do.”
   Those familiar with both women and their love of animals — particularly canines — know there has to be a dog in this story somewhere.
   Enter Turbo, a U.S. Military War Dog (MWD), and his handler, Sgt. Jon Silvey, serving in the Kandahar Province near Terrin Phillips’ unit.
   ”When Terrin told us how much they depend on the MWDs for search missions, to check packages and to look for booby traps, we thought it was just as important to help the dogs and their handlers,” said Linda Allen.
   Besides care packages for their handlers, the two women began shipping blankets, dog beds, treats and even winter booties for Turbo and the other dog teams stationed in Kandahar.
   In a recent email to Linda Allen, Sgt. Silvey wrote that his unit was still recovering from the recent loss of three handlers and two dogs, but that the unit’s spirits were still high because of the support and encouragement of people like her back home.
   ”We appreciate all the time everyone takes out of their lives to make us things and send us packages,” Sgt. Silvey wrote. “It is a great feeling to know people still care, even if the war is unpopular.”
   Ruth and Linda Allen have begun to enjoy the moniker of “Santa Claus” that some of the soldiers have given them. They said this experience has helped them realize that life is a precious gift and to be thankful for what they have here at home.
   ”I’m learning not to sweat the small stuff of my life whenever I think about what these men and women are going through every day,” said Ruth Allen. “I can turn up the heat or reach for a blanket when it’s cold; I have a way of getting cool when it gets hot. But they have very little where they are — sometimes no shower, no bathroom, or so many of the other little things we take for granted.”
   Alex Barrett recently received word that her husband Jeff is planning to be home sooner from his deployment than expected. She’s hoping to see him for Thanksgiving.
   ”Jeff told me that the first time we come back to visit my family in Hopewell, he’s going to go to church to meet Ruth and thank her,” Ms. Barrett said. “I just wish more people would follow suit and adopt a soldier to support on their own. These are two wonderful women who have made such a positive impact on these soldiers and their families.”
   ”It’s the least we can do,” said Linda Allen. “These are people’s loved ones — putting their lives on the line for us. We need to be thankful for what we have and very grateful for what these men and women have done for us.”