Readers Respond To Call for Help To Support Our Troops

On February 25th, the National Nurse website posted a request from a supporter who wondered if there was a way to help our troops.

She said, "Soldiers in Iraq must be having a very scary week, with the situation there deteriorating so rapidly. And the medical units must be running on exhaustion." The supporter went on to say, there are some specific items that a medical unit serving injured soldiers could use. It might take a little of the strain out of this time to do something which is kind and useful, at least to add a little balance to the Universe.

A reader and National Nurse supporter, Denise Carrie, a nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, who is the wife of the General Manager of the Cocasset Manufacturing Plant, Dan Carrie, saw the plea and set out a course of action.

The employees at Invensys Foxboro periodically have internal fundraisers with raffles and bake sales to raise money for different charities as well as have some fun and boost morale. In the past they have raised money for ALS, American Heart Association, the Katrina Fund, American Cancer Society, as well as being a sponsor for the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer and the PMC Jimmy Fund. And in November of 2003 they collected items for Operation Shoebox for soldiers in Iraq.

Most recently they received a request from an employee’s spouse with a note from Capt. Maureen McCann that requested an urgent need for clothing for soldiers being treated in medical facilities in Iraq. They set up a triwall for employees to bring in items and the General Manager agreed to ship the items from their facility. In one week they had a large collection of sweat pants, t-shirts, and travel pillows. They even had a case of t-shirts donated by Invensys Foxboro as well as a case of t-shirts donated by the American Red Cross.

THANK YOU to all who participated in this wonderful collection! Your good deed is not going unnoticed.