Last Friday evening, Rock Paper Scissors was full of an amazing group of young ladies - the Fortune Girls. They came together to embroider hankies for our troops deployed overseas and they rocked the house!!
Everywhere you walked, there were girls, girls and more girls. They stitched and chatted and ate pizza and laughed and made new friends. And, all the time, they were embroidering these beautiful hearts and other messages on oversized camouflage hankies for the troops. They also attached short notes to each hankie with a message of support and encouragement. It was a beautiful sight indeed.
We were honored to have some service members join us, including two young women who have recently returned from deploymet in the Middle East. MASN Chelsea Kepenis and BU3 Penny Zack, joined by Lt. Cmdr Michael Fourte, shared with the girls how much care packages from home meant to them when they were deployed. They also fielded questions from the girls, helped them to stitch and took some time to read the notes.
The hankies will be sent to the troops in care packages that are shipped by
Operation Gratitude, a California-based volunteer organization that ships 100,000 care packages to service people every year. Please check out their website when you have a minute. They are an amazing organization that epitomizes the word "volunteer".
It is not too late to contribute to these care packages. Through Memorial Day weekend, we are still collecting toothpaste, toothbrushes, beanie babies, and notes of support and encouragement for Operation Gratitude to include in care packages.
Fortune Girls is a lifestyle brand started by local Glen Ridge residents Madison Ruiz and her mom, Barbara. It is dedicated to the empowerment of girls ages 7-12, helping them to see all they can be in their lives. We were honored to host the first Fortune Girls Operation Hanky evening!! Sponsors included PNC Bank, Super Scoop, and Notions Marketing.
We thank all of the girls who stitched, the service people who took the time to help us understand the importance of what we did, and especially to the service people (including my own son) who put their lives on the line every day for us without regard to personal gain. They are the true heroes.
Till next time,
Beth
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