9 minute read
Packages from Home
Students emptied heavy donation boxes filled with items donated by their fellow classmates, staff, and members from the local community. The teacher workroom had become packing central for the numerous canned food, candy, snacks, personal care items, and dog treats for the Packages for Home efforts of the students from the Willow Canyon High School Key Club in Surprise, Arizona. Stacks of USPS shipping boxes hand-adorned with drawings of United States flags, bright red poppies to represent peace and remembrance of our Armed Forces, and words of gratitude to encourage and support of Veterans were piled in the workroom.
The boxes will soon be filled with the donated items and letters of encouragement and shipped all over the world to deployed service members, Veterans in transition, and military K9’s and service animals to support Packages from Home initiatives headquartered in Glendale, Arizona.
Packages from Home was founded by Kathleen Lewis, whose son, Christian made the selfless decision to enlist in the United States Army infantry on September 12, 2001, a day after the deadly 9/11 attacks. Christian was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and his mother, Kathleen began sending care packages.
Kathleen was adamant, and some might say overzealous, as she sent box after box of snacks and items to her son during his deployment in Iraq. So much so that Christian asked that she send him less, as he was running out of room and his fellow service members were not receiving anything from their families back home. Kathleen took that as a call to action, and she rallied her friends and family to adopt Christian’s entire squad. Their garage became a storage facility to house, pack, and ship
“My mom is a very passionate mother, she just wanted to send a little piece of home to my brother who was so worthy,” shared Jennifer Leavitt, Packages from Home CEO. “It was a scary time and there were a lot of other men and women who didn’t have the support like my brother did.”
What started as a humble effort by Kathleen Lewis has grown to 200,948 care packages sent overseas, totaling 463 tons with an impact to support more than one million active duty, local veterans, and K9’s.
“Every deployment is different, and our troops don’t always have access to comfortable facilities or the ability to buy items,” shared Hannah Beasley, Packages from Home Operations Manager.
The contents of the Packages from Home boxes are varied and could include non-perishable food items, toiletries like shampoo and conditioner, candy, books, or K9 items such as toys or treats. The familiar items and supplies are meant to be a comfort and reminder of that little piece of home.
“Being away from home is really tough and knowing that someone back home, even if it was a complete stranger, was thinking of you even in that moment that they packed that care package, it means a lot,” said Meghan Richards, Executive Director of Packages from Home.
The mission of Packages From Home serves Active Duty U.S. military members stationed or deployed overseas (to include military working dogs & military K9 teams) as well as homeless, transitioning, and at-risk veterans by providing them with requested food, hygiene, and entertainment items to boost morale and quality of life.
“We have 174,000 U.S. service members stationed in 176 countries worldwide. Most are young people away from their family members for the first time and need to know they are supported.” said Richards.
Many groups and organizations throughout the valley support the efforts and helped grow the initial goal and Willow Canyon High School Key Club is one of 350 school groups that have supported the initiative.
Willow Canyon High School Key Club students became involved in the Packages from Home program back in 2018 when club advisor, Kimberly Maust, who was brand new to the role leading the club, sought out and researched different causes the students could support.
“In talking with my students the first year, they really wanted to do something that would impact the community and many mentioned they want to support service men and women,” said Maust.
In those initial conversations during the Key Club meetings, more than half of the students had a family member or someone close to them who was in the service or a Veteran, and they wanted to thank them for their sacrifice and do something to encourage them.
Key Club is a student-led organization that provides its members with opportunities to provide service, build character, and develop leadership. The Willow Canyon Key Club, which has more than 80 student members, is part of the Estrella Division, which aims to cooperate with administrators and teachers to provide high school students with invaluable experience in living and working together and to prepare them for useful citizenship. Members develop initiative and leadership skills by serving their schools and communities.
Each Key Club is sponsored by a Kiwanis group. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. The Sun City West Kiwanis group supports the Willow Canyon High School with mentorship and financial assistance for club competitions. Jerry Friedler, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Sun City West, volunteers his time as the students’ advisor. Jerry is a frequent visitor at the Key Club meetings and provides meaningful and gentle guidance to the students.
“I’m there to help but they lead. They run their own clubs and efforts. They set the agenda and plan the service projects,” said Jerry. “I’m there to mentor and advise and want to help the kids and see them grow in their leadership and service.”
The Packages from Home initiative was chosen as one of the many service projects the Key Club participated in throughout the school year and has been a mainstay for the club since their initial involvement.
Kaitlyn Schiffer, a junior at Willow Canyon joined Key Club at the encouragement of her older sister. “I enjoy giving time to my community and putting forth those service hours.”
Kaitlyn, along with the other members of the Key Club began planning how they wanted to implement and promote the Packages from Home donation drive. The students hung up flyers that listed the requested items around campus and posted and reshared to their social media accounts to spread the word about their efforts. Boxes were placed in classrooms, the school front office, and the Dysart Schools district office. Key Club students shared information on the daily announcements, over the school intercom, and made commercials on the Dysart Student Broadcasting (DSB) Live school channel. Jerry Friedler from the Kiwanis club also shared flyers with the community.
“I like that as we are here at school we can help those that give time to our country and protect us and we can provide things for them,” said Kaitlyn.
Alexander Nieto is in his third year of Key Club and he joined at the encouragement of Mrs. Maust in order to grow in his leadership skills, communication skills, and to meet new students at Willow Canyon.
“I am happy to bring awareness to my fellow students sharing the positive impact it has on the veterans who receive items.”
The students came up with an incentive in order to encourage participation and the class with the most donated items would receive a donut party to celebrate their efforts.
Even with the incentive, the Key Club group still needed an additional tactic to encourage donations and wanted to demonstrate the direct impact their donation could make.
Steve Clemens is a Science teacher at Willow Canyon High School, and he shared a first-hand experience of what it was like to receive a package. Clemens served in the Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the early 2000’s.
“It means a lot to soldiers. I would get packages filled with random items, and it really brings spirits up. Back then, over there it was not easy to get items you wanted, this was pre-Amazon Prime so everything had to go through an APO,” said Clemens.
“I can speak to it personally and the impact it has on the soldiers, something as simple as a Snickers bar. Something that is a taste from home, when you are on a field mission you might not have access to groceries or depending on the situation you are in a time of war. It has a huge impact on morale.”
Clemens would get items sent from his family based on what he requested but the care packages sent from strangers were exciting because you never knew what you were going to receive.
“There was an element of surprise to the unboxing of the care items,” said Clemens. “There was a mystery behind it. To come back from a long day or a mission, it was like Christmas Day. Everyone would gather around and trade the different items. There was a real camaraderie.”
The Key Club members shared Mr. Clemens testimonial about what it meant to receive a package and the impact and comfort he felt being remembered, recognized, and supported.
“When you hear from someone who’s received the package, you are reaching that emotional aspect and it has been more motivating for students,” said Kaitlyn.
The personal account from Clemens helped spread the words about the efforts and get that final push of donations from students.
The students thought they should submit their service project to the district and international Key Club competitions in 2023.
The Willow Canyon High School Key Club won first place in the Platinum Division for its Packages From Home contributions Signature Project at the Key Club International Convention in Anaheim, California. Additionally, the club earned the Distinguished Club Diamond award.
This accolade is given for Key Clubs that exhibit a dedication to their community and efforts year over year. Willow Canyon earned an honor for its extensive service hours, projects, and participation of the 89 Key Club members. “Our kids have worked so hard this past year,” stated Kimberly Maust. “Winning at the International level is such an amazing accomplishment.”
“They are really making sure that this important issue is not forgotten,” said Meghan Richards. “They are doing their civic duty to support military members. The students that are participating in these efforts are learning the value of service and support and how it is to have a strong military like we do.”
