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HILLSBOROUGH: To Kosovo, with love, at holidays

Sunday School ‘adopts’ soldiers at Christmas

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Youngsters at South Branch Reformed Church stuffed packages of gum, candy, games and small toiletry articles into red Christmas stockings Sunday, and packed them away in a big box to send to five lucky Army soldiers in Kosovo.
The five have been "adopted" by Sunday school children of the church. In addition to snack foods and useful items, the box from the students will contain Christmas ornaments, cards and holiday greetings.
The five Army soldiers are among the 7,000 U.S. peacekeeping personnel serving as part of a NATO force following Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in 1999. The five are stationed at Camp Bondsteel, a facility of 955 acres located on rolling hills and farmland near the city of Ferizaj/Urosevac.
They were selected as the Sunday School mission project. Each year, the teachers are asked to bring ideas to the table that might be suitable for a mission project. The best suggestions are brought to the students, who vote on the one they like the most. It’s financially supported by the children’s weekly church offerings, plus other gifts from the congregation.
Sunday school leaders see the project as a way to prepare children to think of others and their needs.
"We try to instill in the children that we come from families that have so much. We try to show that others don’t have as much or may need our support," said Sunday school teacher Tina Christie.
"We wanted the kids to realize it’s the season of giving and we can bring cheer to others," she said. "It doesn’t matter if they are serving in the states or abroad, they are still away from their families and children."
Under the direction of the SBRC Sunday school co-leaders Danielle Burt and Ms. Christie, a contact was made through Hillsborough’s Jonathan Lapidow, a major in the N.J. Army National Guard, with Capt. David Anderson, currently serving in Kosovo. Major Lapidow and Capt. Anderson served together a few years ago in Iraq.
Capt. Anderson was sent an email to introduce the Sunday school teaching staff and explain the project, and he promptly responded by emailing a list of five soldiers willing to participate. The church group immediately decided the project would support all five soldiers.
The soldiers were asked to email a photo so the children could place a face with a name. In return, a group photo of the children and teachers was emailed to the soldiers.
The children asked the soldiers to tell them about themselves — their families, jobs, interests and whether they have any pets, for instance.
Specialist Kelly Darish of Hamilton, a human resource officer, said she was a wife and mother of an 18-month-old daughter, and had three cats and a dog. She said she loved the outdoors and animals.
Staff Sgt. Maria Alvarez of Elizabeth said she was a single mom of an 8-year-old boy and a huge N.Y. Giants football fan. She also dropped the hint that she loved Samoan Girl Scout cookies. First Lt. James Souder of Jersey City said he has a son on the way.
The others in the group are Specialist Charis Herrera of Lodi and Sgt. Joseph Sippel of Cape May. They all spend time working out in crossfit training, said Lt. Souder in an email.
The five share their time and bounty with local people in Kosovo. They work at a waffle house on base, where soldiers cook, with proceeds going to buy books for local high school students.
The children asked what the soldiers might want to receive. They responded that they would be delighted to receive anything the children might want to send.
Sgt. Alvarez hinted all five loved pumpkin spice Oreo cookies. Those were hard to find, but some pumpkin granola bars made it into the gift box.
"Something we all have in common besides being brothers and sisters in arms: We all dislike the (Dallas) Cowboys," wrote Sgt. Alvarez.
They expressed how grateful they are for the children to be taking on this project.
The Sunday School staff hopes to arrange a video conference via Skype. Since all of the soldiers are residents of New Jersey, the staff said they hoped any or all, when they return, would visit church so the children and entire congregation can meet them personally and host a reception in their honor.
The South Branch Reformed Church is located at the northwest corner within Hillsborough Township. The pastor is the Rev. Stephen Eckert.