Operation Iraqi Children

You Can Help Now by Sending School Supplies

Are you looking for a class or school project where your students can reach out to help other children? Consider helping the school children of Iraq. Through Operation Iraqi Children.

In March of 2004, actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) announced the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that enables Americans to send School Supply Kits to Iraqi children.

The Need
During and after Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages saw the squalor of Iraqi schools--sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets. The Iraqi students lacked even the rudimentary supplies that American children take for granted. Libraries and books were almost nonexistent.

"The future of Iraq lies in the education of its children," says Hillenbrand. "We owe it to them, and to the hundreds of American men and women who gave their lives to bring them freedom, to give these children the basic tools of learning."

The Answer
Inspired by the efforts of soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom -- many of whom were working on their days off to get supplies sent from home out to the villages -- Sinise and Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children. This grass roots program provides concerned Americans with a means to reach out to Iraqi kids and help support our soldiers' efforts to assist the Iraqi people.

Through the School Supply Kit Program, American children, church groups, and other organizations can help Iraqis by gathering school supplies in local drives, assembling them in kits according to our instructions, then sending them to the OIC Warehouse for transport to Iraq, where our soldiers will take them to Iraqi villages.

The organizers of Operation Iraqi Children believe that the benefits of this program will reach far beyond the recipients of the supplies. By bringing Americans and Iraqis together to promote the welfare of the Iraqi children, the program can foster understanding between our nations and generate goodwill between Iraqis and American soldiers. "Every time a box of school supplies is delivered by our troops it will be another small victory for them in helping win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise.

For more information, visit the Operation Iraqi Children Web site.