SHERIFF TO DELIVER SUPPLIES
FOR SOLDIERS
Thursday, November 12, 2009—Dozens of boxes of toiletries and supplies will be delivered to troops overseas thanks to a month-long collection effort by employees at the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Tom Dart will present the supplies to ComPadres, a Chicago-based group that lends support to military chaplains serving overseas. The delivery of boxes will happen at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 at 10937 S. Fairfield, Chicago, which is the home of ComPadres supporter Missy Rossi, whose son Sgt. Joseph Rossi, is in Afghanistan. ComPadres representatives will be there, as will active duty soldiers.
Items such as deodorant, toothpaste, eye drops and dental floss will be delivered, after sheriff’s employees spent the month of October collecting items. Drop-off stations were set up at suburban courthouses and other county buildings. The drive was done in memory of Cook County Boot Camp Drill Instructor Derwin Williams. The Glenwood native was killed in Afghanistan in July while serving with the Illinois Army National Guard. The drive also included donations made by students whose parents work for the department and who collected and bagged items from their classmates.
The ComPadres organization was formed by friends of Fr. John Barkemeyer, who left St. Cajetan parish in 2005 to join the U.S. Army as a full-time chaplain.
