Volunteers sending pieces of home to troops overseas

Erin Dostal

Peggie Ray, 74, of Henderson, sorts bottles of shampoo and soap at the Henderson Convention Center for an event put on by the Blue Star Mothers of Henderson & Boulder City. The group plans to send 1,000 Christmas stockings overseas to men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces.

By Erin Dostal (contact)

Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 1:55 a.m.

U.S. Army Ranger Anthony Fusco is on his sixth overseas tour in seven years. He’s serving in Afghanistan and won’t be home for Christmas.

But thanks to Blue Star Mothers of Henderson & Boulder City, the 31-year-old will still have a stuffed Christmas stocking and a card coming to him.

The Blue Star Mothers organized a drive in Henderson to collect food and other items – like chewing gum, soap, books and socks – to send overseas in stockings for Christmas.

Anthony’s mother, Dorothy Fusco, is the president of Blue Star Mothers of Henderson & Boulder City, a group that started in May to help support women who had family serving in the U.S. armed forces.

This past weekend they were busy organizing the items into categories, writing Christmas cards and sorting stockings to stuff with goodies and necessities.

“Anthony would be most excited to get things that remind him of home,” said Samantha Smith, 28, of Las Vegas. Smith, Anthony’s sister, said her brother enjoys getting little things, like Oreos or beef jerky, because they bring comfort.

Fusco said single-serve Crystal Light packets, hot chocolate packets and instant coffees are always a big hit, since usually the troops only have water to drink.

“It’s nice to see that no matter what’s going on in the country, people still support the boys,” Smith said, picking through packs of Velveeta Shells & Cheese. “It’s not about what they’re doing, it’s the fact that (the soldiers) are there.”

Blue Star Mothers will send 1,000 stockings to troops deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and around the globe. Fusco estimated that about 2,000 pounds of donated items were collected.

“It’s going anywhere there’s somebody who’s not at home,” Fusco said.

Nicki Apodaca, 31, volunteered on Sunday with her mother, Vicki Lafon, 50, and her grandmother, Peggie Ray, 74, of Henderson.

Apodaca doesn’t have relatives in the armed forces, but she did attend Green Valley High School with Anthony Fusco when they both were teenagers.

After finding out from Facebook that Anthony was serving in the armed forces, she wanted to help out in any way she could.

“It puts it in a more personal level than just seeing it on TV,” she said, adding that Anthony is now her 8-year-old son’s biggest hero.

Dorothy Fusco said that of the 400 men Anthony oversees, about 20 to 25 of them never receive letters or packages.

“They gotta know their holidays are here,” she said. “They know everyone is back here partying and they’re there with bombs going off around them.”

The city of Henderson distributed about 30 barrels around the city’s facilities to collect items for the Blue Star Mothers, said City Clerk Monica Martinez Simmons, who was at the convention center Sunday wrapping notes around donated packages of Girl Scout cookies.

Simmons, with two older brothers who served in the military, in Vietnam and Germany, said the event struck a chord with her.

“It’s fun to see everybody coming together,” she said. “I have great respect for the families.”

Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen and members of the City Council will help to stuff stockings on Monday, Simmons said.

The city of Henderson also donated $1,900 to the cause, Fusco said. The city had a “jeans day” on the Tuesday before Veteran’s Day, when employees could buy a flag pin and wear jeans to work.

The money will help pay for part of the $6,000 it will cost to ship all of the stockings overseas, Fusco said.

Blue Star Mothers is still looking for volunteers to help stuff stockings on Monday and Tuesday this week. On both days the group will be at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 S. Water St., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.