DONIPHAN (SNR) – As people around the world look for ways to help others near and far during the global pandemic, St. Ann Parish in Doniphan has continued outreach to one group: deployed military members.
Just last summer and fall, the parish Altar Society was sending packages to Matt Greathouse in Afghanistan, whose family is from nearby Giltner. Parishioners donated items, and the Altar Society covered the shipping.
Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, parishioner Christine Quist has been coordinating collection of items for a unit deployed to South Korea.
Quist’s brother-in-law is a Sergeant Major out of Fort Riley, Kan., serving with a unit of 500 men and women.
“It has been a rough deployment because they have been unable to do the job they were originally sent there for,” Quist explained. “Instead, they have been in charge of keeping the base locked down since COVID-19 hit hard shortly after they arrived in South Korea. The soldiers have not been getting a lot of rest, or time to get necessities from the store.”
In fact, a soldier who shared his gratitude after receiving one of the packages said the kettle corn he received was his “breakfast, lunch, and dinner” that day because he was unable to leave his post for any of the meal times. This helped express how much it meant to the recipients.
“There are a number of these soldiers that don’t hear much or get anything from family in the States,” Quist said. “Morale was pretty low with the number of hours and pure exhaustion from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Quist’s husband was a U.S. Marine and their daughter – also a U.S. Marine – is stationed in Okinawa, Japan, “so I understand how tough it can be for those in the military,” Quist said.
“They look forward to phone calls, Facetime, and packages from home. When they don’t receive anything, it can really take a toll. Then, you pile on the craziness of COVID-19, and it really makes things rough on them.”
Confident in the parish’s generous history, Quist asked pastor Father Adam Sughroue to put a collection tote in the church, to see if anyone would be interested in donating items to support the military in South Korea. Quist and her husband would cover the shipping costs for the packages. Father Sughroue loved the idea, she said, and gave the go-ahead.
After sharing the idea with parishioners through email and the bulletin, the Quists have already sent eight large boxes from St. Ann parishioners to troops in South Korea. Donations included personal care items like soap, toothpaste and lip balm, as well as snacks like candy, chips and beef jerky. As word got around, more donations came in.
“I received a call from Le-Vi Kettle Corn in Giltner,” Quist said. They had heard about the care packages, and they donated 40 bags of popcorn to send over.” This included the kettle corn that made the soldier’s meals for the day.
“My brother-in-law said (the donations) brought many smiles and really lifted spirits,” Quist shared. “St. Ann’s parishioners have been so generous.”
For more information, see the bulletins at stannsdoniphan.org.
