Othello business sends troops 'piece of home'

Boxes sent containing comforts

OTHELLO - Stevens Funeral Chapel in Othello hopes the community will help gather supplies so they can send troops some comforts of home.

The chapel is taking part in "Supporting Our Troops with a Little Piece of Home," a program to provide troops with some everyday items they may be missing.

"The idea was put together by a funeral director in the Midwest who is affiliated with us," Manager John Lackie said.

Lackie said members of the community can pick up a special-sized box from the funeral home, with a list of recommended items for troops. The funeral home is shipping the boxes to troops in groups of 15 to 20 during the ongoing program.

"Until there is peace in the world, we will help provide a piece of home to our troops," Lackie said.

If someone wishes to send the box to a particular member of the military, the funeral home can send it to them, Lackie said.

When the boxes are sent out, they have the funeral home's return address on it, but not the name of the business. The name and address of the person who collected the items is included inside the box so the recipient can thank them. Lackie said the business hopes people include a letter with the items.

"Our staff here is excited about the possibility of getting a lot of people involved," he said. "There's no other large group doing something like this."

Items included in the list of recommended donations are based on what returning soldiers and supervisors said they were missing, Lackie said.

The list includes such small comforts as nuts and sunflower seeds, beef jerky, gum, lotion, sun block, shampoo, newspaper clippings, Frisbees and books.

Stevens Funeral Chapel is located at 511 S. 7th Ave. in Othello.

For more information, contact John Lackie at 509-488-3341.