Adopt-A-Platoon Team
JC Penney
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New Sneakers Donated for US Soldiers in Afghanistan
By Joe Gettler | February 27, 2009 | The Bulletin
Kym Jennings (right)
of the JC Penney store at
Roosevelt Field presents Ken Erickson of Brookhaven Lab's Adopt-a-Platoon
program with 32
pairs of new sneakers, which will be delivered next month to U.S. soldiers
stationed in
Afghanistan.
The members of U.S. Army reconnaissance platoon 1-26IN will be able to run
faster and jump higher
next month. On February 13, the JC Penney department store of Roosevelt
Field donated 32 pairs of
new sneakers to the soldiers through the local chapter of the
Adopt-a-Platoon program, which is based
at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
"We are so grateful for the donation from JC Penney, and the sneakers will
go directly to soldiers in the
front lines," said Ken Erickson, a Ridge resident and Brookhaven Lab
employee who heads the local
Adopt-a-Platoon chapter. "Most of these soldiers in the platoon are about 19
years old and they're
somebody's kids. We want to do whatever we can to boost their morale and
make them comfortable
while they're there."
The sneakers are scheduled to arrive in the Middle East next month and will
then be delivered via
helicopter to the soldiers who are stationed in the mountains of
Afghanistan. While the platoon originally
requested 32 pairs of sneakers (one for each soldier), only 29 will be used.
Since the original request,
two members of the platoon have been killed and one has been injured.
Adopt-a-Platoon Soldier Support Effort is a national nonprofit organization
that helps civilians to "adopt"
a soldier or an entire platoon of soldiers by providing them with letters
and items that they request
including winter boots, shaving razors, magazines, snacks, and even backup
generators. Adopt-a-Platoon accepts supplies and financial donations from individuals as well as
local, regional, and national
businesses.
The Brookhaven Veterans Association's Adopt-a-Platoon committee has
supported several platoons as
well as deployed BNL employees and their children since its inception two
years ago. Anyone who would
like to adopt a soldier or a platoon, or contribute to the Adopt-a-Platoon
program should contact Ken
Erickson at erickson@bnl.gov.
2009-1103 | Media & Communications Office
Last Modified: March 15, 2010
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