What have you done to help Iraqis?
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| Sun, 08-01-2004 - 12:17pm |
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2711216
Couple collect 2,010 pairs of shoes for Iraq
A soldier's note inspired their drive to donate flip-flops to barefoot kids
By JOHN W. GONZALEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
It might be hard to find a pair of children's flip-flops for sale in Conroe or Spring this weekend. Most of them are on the way to Iraq.
A Montgomery County couple who launched a shoe-collection drive for Iraqi children delivered 2,010 pairs of flip-flops to Fort Hood on Friday for distribution in theBaghdad area beginning next week.
Gary and Barbara Cluck, who live in the April Sound community on Lake Conroe, were struck by a U.S. soldier's casual observation in a newsletter from Iraq that many kids go shoeless in the hot desert sand.
With help from neighbors and friends in Texas, Oklahoma, fellow church-goers and the VFW in Conroe, they amassed 2,010 pairs of new shoes in a matter of weeks, along with donated school supplies.
Filling a U-Haul truck, the couple drove the goods to Fort Hood so soldiers there can transport them to Iraq for distribution by the 1st Cavalry Division.
"Some of them have big sunflowers on them. Some of them are pink. Can't you see those kids? They're going to be so proud of those shoes," Gary Cluck said.
"Wal-Mart had them for $1.74 and dollar store had them for $2. We bought every pair of kids' flip-flops in the whole Conroe area. So (Thursday) my wife and I drove to Spring and they told us there was a dollar store down there that had flip-flops. We bought almost 200 pair there," he said.
About 800 pairs came from Cluck's friends in Vidalia, Ga., and another 600 pairs were rounded up by members of First United Methodist Church in Conroe, he said. The rest were provided by residents of April Sound or purchased with donated cash, Cluck said.
"The VFW in Conroe wrote me a check for $145 and that bought over 100 pair of flip-flops, so it just spread," he said as he delivered the goods to Fort Hood."We think this is going to build good relations with the Iraqi people."
The soldier who inspired Operation Flip-Flop happened to be at the post Friday on a two-week assignment. Lt. Col. Tim Ryan, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, accepted the donations with glee and recalled how the project started.
"I had been out in sector all day, about a month and a half ago, and saw quite a few families picking through the ruins of an old ammo factory. They were trying to pick up brass and old bullets to salvage and make money. And the kids didn't have any shoes," Ryan said.
"So that night I was writing my newsletter to all the (soldiers') families and I put a 'P.S.' saying we (soldiers) don't really need anything ... but if you want to do something — if you felt like giving — send some flip-flops or children's clothes or school supplies and we can distribute those around to those folks who are not so fortunate," he said.
Cluck, a retired Army reservist, got the newsletter from an Army friend and pounced on the suggestion. Ryan said the effort will be greatly appreciated in Iraq for years to come.
"Efforts like this will help us to show the ordinary people of Iraq — and the rest of the world for that matter — that the Americans aren't there for selfish reasons," Ryan said.
"I will put boxes of the shoes, and some school supplies as well, in the Humvees with the soldiers as they go out on patrol. As they work their way through sectors and they see folks in need, they'll distribute around to folks they know. We've been there for seven months, so you know where folks are that need things."

What have *I* done to help the Iraqis?
Last school year, I donated school supplies to help Iraqi school children.
Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
Thank you and your husband for your unselfishness and for your constant giving!!
Thanks, Sondra!
I was really happy that
Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
I'm the International Club sponsor at out school. Last year, we had a drive to collect
Renee ~~~
In Islam, it is a bigger blessing by not bragging about what you have done. Many give just for show, but do not mean it. So what I have done will never be known except by me and by ALLAH, even my husband doesn't know..
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Just wanted to add this in for information...
The believer must hide his charity and do his best not to let anyone know about it to avoid falling into Riya'a (i.e. showing up one's good deeds to others and doing the good deeds for other than Allah's Sake). The prophet (PBUH) said: 'Seven (types of) people will be covered with Allah's shade on a day when there is no shade but His Shade, (from among them) a man who gives a charity hiding it, that (even) his left hand does not know what his right hand has spent'.
Saying that your left hand does not know what your right hand has spent is a form of expression that indicates how careful you should be when giving a charity not letting anyone notice what you're doing. It would even be better to hide your identity from the one who is receiving the charity, when possible, so as to protect the receiver's dignity and save him from feeling shameful or humiliated.
One of the righteous successors used to give a constant charity to the scholars who were known to be poor at his time, and in order to hide his identity and protect them from the embarrassment he used to wait until they enter the mosque for one of the daily prayers, then put the money inside their slippers! The scholars never knew his true identity until only when he died and they found out that the charity they used to receive on a constant basis all of a sudden stopped!!
Edited 8/1/2004 9:56 pm ET ET by sondra_wins