Pathway Prep volunteers ‘cool down’ troops in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a ‘hot’ spot not only because of the fighting going on there, but also because of the extreme heat in the summertime. Volunteers from Pathway Preparatory Academy have been working to ‘cool down’ our troops in Afghanistan, thanks to the efforts of parents Lisa Cannon and Beth Fabrick.

Cannon and Fabrick both have children in Diane Silvia’s fourth grade class at Pathway. Silvia’s husband is training U.S. troops in Afghanistan, so she asked her students to write letters to Afghani children asking about their lives and sharing what it’s like to live in Maricopa. When Silvia’s husband received those letters, he had them translated so the local children could read and respond to them.

Last month Silvia returned to visit his family for a few weeks. He brought back the Afghani children’s letters and some examples of clothing children wear there. He even made the fourth graders an Afghani meal.

“In the letters from the Afghani children, the recurring message was that they are hoping for peace in their villages; how lucky we are, and how they hope to have a life of freedom as children have here in the United States,” said Fabrick. 
 
Starting in January the Disney organization began a program encouraging community volunteerism, setting a goal of one million registered volunteers. Each person involved in a volunteer activity would receive a free ticket to a Disney theme park. Cannon and Fabrick registered Pathway Prep with the hope of encouraging people to volunteer. “We wanted to let as many people as possible earn a free Disney day, especially in these difficult economic times,” said Cannon.

Knowing that Silvia would be returning to Afghanistan, there was a real opportunity to send something back with him for the soldiers.  Due to the extreme summer heat there, keeping soldiers cool and hydrated is very important. A “cooling ties” project seemed perfect for the children at Pathway.

The fourth grade class spent an afternoon helping make gel tablet-filled cooling ties to be worn around the soldiers’ necks and also sent thank you letters to them. Silvia delivered both the ties and notes to his fellow troops in Afghanistan.
 
Due to the success of this activity, Pathway opened the opportunity up on the Disney website for 100 volunteers. According to Cannon, “The volunteer opportunity was full after several hours.”

Having this many volunteers came with some challenges in terms of purchasing and gathering needed supplies, as well as the sewing that needed to take place before the event. Maricopa’s quilt guild, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts, immediately offered their help and support, donating fabric to be sewn into strips and also volunteering to seam the strips on the day of the event last week. Laurie Richards and Doris Neill from the quilt group spent many hours helping to precut the cooling ties and doing preliminary sewing.

ACE Hardware, Wal-Mart, Bashas’, Water Boy, and Pathway Academy’s PTO supported the event with donations. Maricopa’s VFW, the Maricopa Veterans Center, and the American Legion post were notified and pledged $150 to purchase materials and help pay for shipping.

“If anyone would like to donate, we are still in need of help with shipping and more supplies,” said Fabrick.

“We are holding a school-wide event at Pathway, and we are hoping to have enough materials donated so that each child can make a cooling tie,” said Cannon. To date volunteers have completed 500 cooling ties, which need to be shipped to the troops.

For further information, to donate fabric and materials or to help with shipping costs, email Cannon at [email protected].

Photos by Joyce Hollis, group photo courtesy of Lisa Cannon