Operation Gratitude collects life-saving candy

For the third year in a row, I am devoting much of my spare time (and a lot of my not-so-spare time) working for a project called Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude is a nonprofit organization that seeks to lift morale and put smiles on U.S. soldiers’ faces by sending them care packages overseas. Operation Gratitude packages contain food, hygiene products, entertainment items, candy and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support.

I originally heard about Operation Gratitude through a dentist who was asking children in his practice to donate the candy they collected at Halloween (or any extra candy that they didn’t give out to trick-or-treaters) rather than eating it. When I learned that he wasn’t just collecting the candy to save his patients’ teeth from too many sweets, but rather to send to U.S. troops, I decided to learn more, and ultimately started my own collection process.

As it turns out, the soldiers love getting the care packages — who wouldn’t love a package from home when one is living in constant danger in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan? And reading a letter of appreciation from a U.S. citizen, usually a schoolchild, can really help keep up spirits, especially after a day of fighting. Perhaps even more importantly, the troops not only get a sweet treat from back home, but they sometimes use the candy to barter with village children for information about hidden improvised explosive devices or the location of enemy troops. It’s hard to believe, but many soldiers’ lives have been saved by a bag of M&Ms or a chocolate bar.

For the past two years, I have collected candy everywhere I can. My first year, 2009, I collected exactly 911 pounds of candy. The coincidence of “9/11” was hard to ignore. My second year, 2010, I collected more than 4,300 pounds of candy, and I am hoping to collect more than 5,000 pounds this year.

I don’t have any family members in the military (although my grandfather served in the Army way back when… before my dad was born!) So why do I work for Operation Gratitude? Simple. We have the good life here in America for one reason and one reason only: because our soldiers risk their lives, and sometimes give their lives, to protect our way of life. They risk their lives for us every day, away from their family and friends for months at a time, never knowing if they will make it home alive and in one piece or not. We spend our days inside air-conditioned homes and schools, ride in comfortable cars and enjoy great food every day. Our brave men and women get nothing of the sort, not to mention the risk they constantly endure of getting shot or blown up by a rusty can or some other non-descript object that turned out to be a bomb. Perhaps even more important than our “lifestyle” is our freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to agree or disagree with our own government. We should never take any of those things for granted. My collecting candy for Operation Gratitude is one small thing I can do to thank our soldiers for all that they do to protect America.

Drop off candy and letters of appreciation by Saturday, Nov. 12, to one of the following Winter Park locations:

• Station 61, 343 W. Canton Ave.

• Station 62, 300 S. Lakemont Ave.

• Station 64,1439 Howell Branch Road

• City Hall, 401 Park Ave. S.

• Winter Park Public Library, 460 E. New England Ave.

For further details, contact [email protected] or 407-454-0878.

Andrew Weinstock, 15, lives in Winter Park and attends Trinity Preparatory School.