This weekend, Operation Gratitude shipped its 200,000th gift package to American troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, each package individually addressed to a specific soldier, with a personally-written letter accompanying each large boxful of items, individually packed by a volunteer.
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You have to look back three years to appreciate the magnitude of this milestone. Operation Gratitude was formed in March 2003 by one person -- Carolyn Blashek -- a member of the Los Angeles congregation of Rabbi Mordechai Finley (Rabbi Finley’s son was serving in the Marines at the time). Working alone out of her living room, at her own expense, she began sending gift packages to the troops. By July of that year she had sent a remarkable 295 packages, and was profiled by the local press.
By July 2005, as friends and acquaintances and others heard or read of her efforts, as corporations began making contributions, as the Internet kicked in (with a significant boost from multiple prominent posts by Lucianne), and many more people joined her effort, commanders started sending her names of troops who needed mail, and within those two years the number of packages had risen to an incredible 63,984 packages, in a remarkable story of tikkun olam.
In March of this year, George W. Bush invited Carolyn Blashek to the White House to thank her for her efforts, and she was invited back again this month. This past weekend, as Operation Gratitude shipped its 200,000 package on Saturday, it just kept on going, with a full day of packing yesterday. The effort resumes again on December 30-31, with new volunteers and contributions welcome here.
These days another woman -- Karnit Goldwasser -- travels around the country, trying to call attention to three soldiers, held hostage along with their nation to unrelenting terror.
On the Internet, Yael is trying to give Karnit’s efforts a significant boost, by illustrating where individuals could take this. The lesson from Operation Gratitude is that the efforts of a single individual can make a huge difference, and that women of valour can lead others to things that no one could imagine or predict. As with Operation Gratitude, the rest of us have an opportunity to help.
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