The courtroom in Fort Belvoir's Legal Assistance Office looked like Santa's workshop Saturday morning, with stacks of Christmas cookies, toys and decorations. But instead of elves, members of the Army Judge Advocate Women's and Spouses' Club and other JAG Corps Family volunteers worked busily to fill boxes with goodies for deployed JAG Corps Soldiers as part of the club's annual Deployment Deliveries Project.
"Holidays are by far the hardest time, not only for the folks here at home but for the folks over there, so it makes us all feel like we're doing something to help our Soldiers, and then it lets them know that we're thinking about them," said Mindy Dulaney, president of the AJAWS Club for the Washington D. C. area. "The JAG (Corps) is a pretty small group and I think … in the grand scheme of things they could easily get forgotten, so we make sure that doesn't happen."
There are currently more than 200 deployed JAG Soldiers all over the world, and each one will receive a box from the club, filled with homemade cookies, candy, personal hygiene items, books, magazines, DVDs and holiday decorations donated by community members, Dulaney said.
"We'll have some foodstuffs like granola bars and macaroni and cheese and stuff that they can easily make in their own little room with their microwave. Then we always have some fun stuff, too: we have some fake mustaches and little games and toys and stuff like that," she said.
There is also a special gift: a mouse pad with the words "Keep Calm and Call JAG," designed to look like the famous British World War II posters that read "Keep Calm and Carry On."
Each box also contains a letter from the AJAWS Club and handmade cards from local school children.
"It comes from our heart," said Michele Brookhart, co-chair for the AJAWS Club Deployment Deliveries Project committee. "They know about the donations, so it gives them a sense of community. We try to throw a little humor in too. The cards that the kids write, the misspelled words, the beautiful pictures, they love that. That's just as close as we can bring them to home."
In just a couple of hours, 25 volunteers filled more than 50 boxes and sent them to the post office.
"Everybody wants to help. It just feels good to do it and we just are thankful that we can," said Martha Tozzi, Deployment Deliveries Committee co-chair.
The packages are always a big hit with the deployed JAG Corps members, she added -- especially the greeting cards from children. In fact, the AJAWS Club receives thank-you letters from the deployed Soldiers every year, along with photos of them opening their boxes.
"They love every piece of it. It's a morale booster," she said. "It makes them realize that there are folks back home, outside of their immediate blood Family, that are thinking about them, and it does mean a lot to them."
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