Six Local Lodges, Churches Help Troops Overseas Through Yellow Ribbon Girls

Online, July 12, 2010 (Newswire.com) - BEAVER COUNTY, PA - For a period of 4 weeks, starting on May 16, 2010, Greek Catholic Union (GCU) District 15 sponsored a 'Support our Troops' collection drive to support the efforts of the Yellow Ribbon Girls. Founded in 2003, the Yellow Ribbon Girls consists of sisters Bonnie and Patti Phillippi and Vicky Henley whose brother, then MAJ John Stich, was serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The sisters began by making yellow ribbons for the families of soldiers also serving in the war then progressed to collecting and shipping comfort items to the troops. The small operation began in Phillippi's basement and soon expanded into the Ellport Community Church where they now package 65-120 comfort boxes each month for shipment overseas.

Lodges within GCU District 15 collaborated with six Byzantine Catholic Churches to collect comfort items such as toothpaste, wash cloths, hand cream, lip balm, and phone cards among others, for American troops serving overseas. The churches involved in the effort were St. George Byzantine Catholic Church in Aliquippa, PA; St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Lyndora, PA;
St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Mingo Junction, OH; Assumption of the Mother of God Church in Weirton, WV; St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Ambridge, PA; and St. Nicholas of Myra Chapel in Beaver, PA. During the four weeks of the collection drive, parishioners brought items to church for inclusion in boxes placed in the vestibule.

The total collected from all 6 lodges weighed in at nearly one-half ton. In other terms, enough items were collected to fill approximately 65 paper-ream sized boxes, each with a value of $25 in new comfort items, along with cash donations. The approximate cash value of the donation to the American troops through the Yellow Ribbon Girls Project was $1,720.

During the delivery of the goods, Bonnie Phillippi, co-founder of Yellow Ribbon Girls, relayed stories of how the soldiers write letters thanking everyone for their packages and show the greatest pleasure from something as simple as a new washcloth or a spare pillowcase as they are only issued one of these items every few months. The small group of volunteers, many of them family of the three sisters, also include into these comfort boxes colorful themed baggies filled with goodies, crafts made by children of various church youth groups or VBS programs, cards, stories, poems and other heartfelt crafts to remind these hardworking soldiers of the great freedoms for which they fight and that they are respected and remembered by those back home.

Although YRG is a Beaver County based organization with no ties to any national organization, persons in other states or communities can contact a local armory or military base to find out how they could help in a similar way. Phillippi states the American Red Cross is also a good resource and to contact a local branch for help in creating your own similar organization.