Handled with care

Last update: November 2, 2009 - 8:36 PM

November has barely begun, and yet we're already tired of being pitched with holiday fare. For Operation Minnesota Nice, though, it's Christmas year-round. The Ramsey-based nonprofit group sends packages of needed goods to Minnesota soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this is the time of year when it makes an all-out effort to ensure that the troops get what they need, along with memories of home, in places where there isn't always time for the holidays. The items that Operation Minnesota Nice sends aren't particularly flashy -- mouthwash, ketchup packets, nail clippers, for example -- but they're the kinds of things that aren't readily available to soldiers in the deserts and mountains of foreign lands. Of course, fun ways to pass the time -- crossword puzzles, CDs, even a newspaper -- also find happy recipients.

See a complete list of what you can donate by going to www.operationminnesotanice.com or calling 763-464-1696. Or volunteer to help put packages together. Then you might have even more of an appreciation for soldiers' responses to the aid, such as this one sent to Operation Minnesota Nice by First Sgt. Eugene J. Moses: "Your efforts brought hope when at times there was only despair, a sense of purpose when it seemed to have strayed and a bright smile to the faces of tired, grungy, combat aged, young men and women serving so bravely."

RANDY A. SALAS