Corey Laub, a 16-year-old Atholton High School student, along with his parents, have collected almost 500 baseball caps to send to U.S. soldiers in Iraq who will in turn give them to Iraqi children. For Shelley Laub, inspiration came in the form of an e-mail in January.
The missive was from Al McCormack, a baseball coach Laub knew, who was relaying a message from a American soldier in Iraq asking for new and gently used baseball caps to give to Iraqi children.
Laub said she knew immediately that she would respond to the request because doing so would make her feel close to her son, Greg, a Marine Corps lance corporal, who is serving in Iraq.
"When we heard about this, it was really just a perfect fit," she said. "I just thought this would be a nice thing to do, both from the baseball end of it and the Marine end of it."
Since then, Laub, her younger son, Corey, and husband, Jeff, have collected almost 500 baseball caps for "Caps for Kids," a program created by U.S. soldiers as a gesture of goodwill toward Iraqi children. The program was developed at an Army combat support hospital in Mosul after soldiers stationed there saw how the local children reacted to owning American baseball caps.
Although the Laubs have been collecting caps for just a few weeks, they have filled the front hallway and living room of their Columbia home with new and used hats that are waiting to be sorted and mailed to Iraq.
Corey Laub, a junior at Atholton High School who plays on the school's baseball team, collected some of the hats from fellow students. The family also collected hats from neighbors, relatives and work associates, Shelly Laub said.
"The response has really been overwhelming," she added. "I'm was amazed at how many hats people would bring us ... just boxes and boxes of new hats."
Soldiers' morale boosted
The collection effort began in Mosul after a Iraqi child was brought into the Army combat hospital there after a suicide bombing, Army Lt. Col. William Devine explained in an e-mail to the Howard County Times.
The boy's mother had died while shielding the boy from the blast and he came to the hospital with burns on his head, wrote Devine, who is one of the project's organizers.
"He was quiet and most likely depressed due to his injuries and the loss of his mother but his spirits really picked up as he was given a baseball hat, which covered some of his head injuries," Devine wrote. "He smiled and showed everyone his hat. And hence, it was decided to try to collect hats to give all the kids in the hospital."
Devine, of Henderson, Ky., wrote that he has four children, two of whom are baseball players, adding that he put out the word about the program to his baseball contacts and found the response to be "phenomenal."
In addition to lifting the spirits of some Iraqi children, the reaction to the program has lifted the morale of the troops in Iraq, he added in his e-mail.
"I think it's a tremendous program for many reasons, but primarily it allows the soldiers direct positive contact with the surrounding community and immediate feedback," he wrote. "The soldiers are constantly giving candy to the kids and many of them look forward to seeing the soldiers as they do their patrols. It's definitely a positive influence, not only for the community and the children, but also for the soldiers involved."
A goal of 5,000 hats
Laub said she is not able to speak often to her son, Greg, a 2002 Atholton graduate, who is stationed in Iraq in an area where fighting is fierce, adding that he is not at liberty to discuss his mission.
But Corey, who recently spoke to his brother, said Greg Laub thought the collection effort was a good idea.
Corey added that he himself was proud of the number of hats he and his parents have collected, and that they look forward to collecting more.
"It'd be amazing to turn on the television and see an Iraqi child in a hat that we collected," he said. "That would just be a really good feeling."
Devine said the program's original goal was to collect 1,500 hats, but that he has upped it to 5,000 or more, given the response. The first group of hats should be distributed to children within the next week, he added.
Shelley Laub said that her family will soon mail to Iraq the 500 hats they have collected, adding that they will not ship those that are too worn or dirty.
After mailing that first shipment, the family will begin collecting more hats, she said. Those who wish to contribute a hat can drop them in a bin that has been placed in the lobby of Atholton High School.
"We hope to do this at least two more times," she added. "The response from the community has really been overwhelming and heartwarming."
E-mail Shannon Baylis Sarino at Shannon Baylis Sarino@patuxent.com
Home
News
Education
Opinion
Sports
Business
Community
Contact Us!
Movies-Art-Leisure
Other Publications
Marketplace
Classifieds
Subscribe/Advertise Register Why register? Login Logout Edit profile Local News National News News Archives Education Stories 2006 Bus Schedule Letters & Editorial Email the editor Local Sports Baltimore Sun Sports Yahoo! sports Spring Training with Andy Barth! Blog... Business Stories Stock ticker Community Links Your Weather outlook The Editors Web Site and Circulation
Movie Contest GO! Moviepal Bookpal Musicpal E-games Company Website Newspapers/Magazines Telephone Directories Guide to Howard County Auctions/Public Notices LifeShots-buy photos here Search Classifieds Place a Classified Ad Find a Home! Find a Business Subscribe Privacy Policy Terms of Service Advertising Rates
