Students at Oldfield Middle School thanked those on military deployment
by banding together and collecting items for Operation Ziploc during the
month of October.
Mr. Joseph Maiello, a social studies teacher at Oldfield Middle, has
been running this drive for over 12 years. He annually encourages
students to bring in items that people often take for granted—namely
hygiene products and nonperishable foods—to send to soldiers overseas.
Math teacher Mrs. Jennifer Garside, in addition to donating enough items
to fill nearly three boxes, supplied the names of five deployed
individuals to ship the supplies to. Once the boxes are received, the
items will be distributed to their fellow members of the armed forces.
Students generously brought in enough items to fill 18 boxes, and many
wrote letters to the soldiers to enclose in the packages as well.
One student in particular, a sixth-grader named Dylan, collected items
at his father’s weekly CrossFit classes that honor a different veteran,
firefighter, or police officer who lost their life in the service. Dylan
collected enough items to fill nearly three boxes as well, hoping to
show gratitude to as many members of the military as possible.
“It’s so important for us to thank those who trade every-day
normality—that we get to enjoy—for the service of keeping our country
safe,” said Mr. Maiello. “And if everyone makes an effort in whatever
small way they can, it can add up to a big difference.”