By Sarah Natchipolsky
Terps for Service Members filled 71 care packages with snacks and toiletries to send to U.S. military personnel stationed overseas during the holiday season on Friday, Nov. 15.
The student organization collected donated non-perishable items for the packages from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15. Marking the third year of this project, volunteers helped organize the donations and assemble the care packages Friday evening.The group placed collection boxes around campus, asked for donations from local fire and police departments and promoted the drive on social media. This year, they had the most volunteers show up to put together the packages, according to Alexandra Wells, the director of events and planning for Terps for Service Members.
The group set up more donation locations this year than ever before, Nina Conkright, the president of Terps for Service Members, said. Coming from a military family motivated Conkright to provide comfort for service members as well as their families.
“I think it gives [service members] a little bit more motivation,” she said. “It also gives the family some security that at least their family member’s being taken care of…to know that someone’s going out of their way to make their Christmas a lot better is just fulfilling.”
Conkright’s father, Jason Conkright, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1996 until 2016. He now works full-time and attends classes at the University of Maryland. Conkright said that when he received care packages while he was serving overseas, the material items were only part of what made them so special.
“For service members, it’s not always about getting things they need,” he said. “It is nice if [the care package] has the things they need, but it’s really great for them to know that people are thinking of them and took the time to send them stuff. So having a taste of home and knowing people care is really important.”
The care packages will be sent through Operation Yellow Ribbon, a nonprofit organization based in New Jersey. The organization has sent 57,634 pounds of goods to troops overseas thus far in 2019, according to its website.
Ian Parks, a junior computer science and Chinese double major, volunteered with his honor society, Alpha Lambda Delta. Parks is a member of the society’s volunteerism committee and encouraged other members to help assemble the packages.
“It helps people who are in need, service members who can’t see their families during the holiday season, which is the time most Americans associate with seeing their loved ones,” Parks said. “And I think that this is just a chance for us to give back to the community, to those people who are helping our country.