Community Corner

Rewind: This Operation Helps Our Heroes

The Rancho Santa Margarita organization makes sure military families that are under stress have a real Christmas, even if they can't be together.

Editor's note: In the early days of RSM Patch—it was no more than 4 days old—we profiled Operation Help A Hero, which is doing great work with Marines at Camp Pendleton. In light of events of the past week involving the death of RSM resident Cpl. Jordan Stanton, it seems particularly relevant. In case you missed it, here's that story again, originally titled "At Christmastime, This Operation Helps Our Heroes."  Check the website to consider getting involved. This story was originally posted Dec. 25, 2010.

Christmas is a special yet often stressful time under normal circumstances, but for the family of a Marine who is readying to be deployed to Afghanistan—or has already left—it can be an extremely traumatic time of the year.

That's why Operation Help a Hero has played such an important role in the holiday landscape for eight years. When it's tough to have a good Christmas, OHH can make it a great one. This season it filled wish lists worth at least $1,000 for families of 48 Marines who were either recently, or about to be, deployed to Afghanistan, Japan or South Korea, or just returning.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We have some families that are very specific, but the bulk of the wish lists, people write that they just want their kids to have a good Christmas," said Cindy Farnum, who was a middle-school teacher at St. John's Episcopal School in Rancho Santa Margarita in 2002 when the program began as Operation Sweet Dreams, a letter-writing campaign to troops in her husband's unit, which was about to be deployed to Kuwait in advance of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Today, Farnum estimates, more than 300 volunteers regularly participate in the program locally, and it's often difficult to tell who has the biggest smiles–those giving or those receiving.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's done for them as well—those who are volunteering," Farnum said. "One of our tenets of the organization is that if people don't know how to help, they won't. If they do, they will. There are a lot of people who may not be able to serve in the military, but they do value the service and want to help; they just don't know how and where the needs are. We do spend a lot of time educating people and getting them involved."

It's not all about toys. Sometimes it's about furniture or bedding or kitchen appliances. Sometimes, it's about a trip to Disneyland as a family. But it's also about toys and bicycles and the things that light up a child's face—which also lights up those of the parents.

For the first time, Operation Help a Hero worked with the city of Rancho Santa Margarita, and for the first time it allowed military families to apply for a wish list instead of all being chosen by their command based on need or merit. Six particularly needy military families were accepted through the application process and adopted.

"Sometimes when I get an e-mail, I'll cry," said Farnum, whose husband, Lt. Col. Peter Farnum, later became the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment that had been officially adopted by the city of Rancho Santa Margarita. "It's really hard for people to ask for help. It really does feel good for all of our volunteers, families and groups that do get involved. I had several people come up to me and say, 'Thank you. Through adopting this family, I feel it's really Christmas now.' "

There were 48 families—five more than usual—that were adopted through the organization's efforts. On top of that, a $5,000 donation was received to provide for an additional 10 families, and a 3-ton truck was loaded with toys and dispatched to the 2nd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment, a unit being deployed to Afghanistan. In total, 13 units had families that were helped by Operation Help a Hero. In addition to the city's five adopted families, local businesses and families adopted 19. The rest were adopted and supported through St. John's.

But there is a harsh reality to this as well. Among the adopted families were one member of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and seven from the 3/5 who had Marines that were seriously injured, including one fatally, in Afghanistan.

"The vast majority of families we serve through this project do have some kind of need or have larger families," Farnum said. "We get families with five or six kids."

Pickup was a couple of weeks ago. Although families can get their donations personally, Camp Pendleton will routinely send single Marines to make the pickup and then give to the family. Ninety Marines participated in the pickup at St. John's and the Bell Tower Plaza, where they were surprised with catered meals by Guazzo's Catering and Tutto Fresco. Ten families picked up their gift baskets at St. John's, where they were given a student-led tour of the facility and participated in a special chapel service.


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