Playing Santa Claus to soldiers Playing Santa Claus to soldiers (January 12, 2005)

Menlo Park woman organizes holiday care packages to Iraq

By Jane Knoerle

Almanac Lifestyles Editor

"I had 5,000 other things to do at Christmas," says Kristin Eberwein of Menlo Park, "but I wanted to do something for the soldiers in Iraq and didn't know where to begin."

She began by calling a friend, Ester Souza, whose son, Cpl. Andrew Sterling, recently returned from Iraq. Ms. Souza said the soldiers yearned for the simplest comforts of home, from cotton balls to hand lotion.

"I asked if I could send something, and would she give me an address or two," says Ms. Eberwein. "She sent a list of 60 names from her son's Marine Corps India Company in Iraq!" (India Company was the first company to charge into the battle for Fallujah.)

Overwhelmed, Ms. Eberwein passed around a clipboard asking for help at Growing Families Fellowship, which is led by her husband, Bill, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. "The clipboard returned with 25 names saying 'yes.' More came in by e-mail."

While some offered to donate items, such as after-shave lotion, eye drops, baby powder and bandannas, others offered money, so Ms. Eberwein went shopping.

At the stores, friends -- even strangers -- noticed her cart filled with Q-tips, foot powder, dental floss, lemon drops and beef jerky.

"Are you expecting a shortage?" they would ask her. "When I told them why, they would say, 'Give me a copy of the list,' and off they would go through the shopping aisles to fill a stocking for a soldier."

"I was shameless. Every store I went into, I asked for a donation," says Ms. Eberwein.

Bharat Patel of the Sharon Heights UPS store donated all of the boxes and shipping materials for packing. Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos donated flea collars for the soldiers to put around their boots to repel sand fleas. Restoration Hardware in Palo Alto donated 50 packages of two-to-a-pack pocket-size playing cards.

A former Marine, Woody Willis, manager of The Door, a San Carlos bookstore, donated 50 books and pocket Bibles.

Family friend Scott Rash, first vice president and branch manager of Smith Barney in Menlo Park, took 20 names. He told her they were looking for a philanthropic project for the office and "this will be perfect." Twenty filled boxes arrived at the Eberweins' garage.

The night before the mailing deadline, the Eberweins' next-door neighbor "Hap" Wotila came over to help with taping, labeling and loading the boxes into their station wagon. His son, David, a medic in the Army, suggested including hot sauce in the package to spice up bland rations.

After the 60 care packages were mailed, Ms. Eberwein says, "I went to sleep that night touched by the open hearts and eager hands that helped us share Christmas this year."

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