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St. Cloud State University
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Group unites for troops
By Regina Eckes
Published:
Thursday, April 15, 2004
When speech communications professor Marlene Fischer told her class its group assignment was to create a project that would make the world a better place, sophomore Amanda Motschke and the rest of her group began discussing ideas.
They decided to start a mail drive that would encourage students and the public to write letters to troops serving the country overseas.
"We sat down and started bouncing ideas off each other," Motschke said. "We had seen CNN reports and heard how people over there hadn't received any letters."
Junior Wayne Wannarka said the group's decision to start a letter drive was easily made once the idea was suggested.
"Once the idea was presented, everybody else decided 'Yeah, that sounds real good,' like something we would want to do," Wannarka said.
Last week, the group put up posters around campus informing the student body about their project and what it can do to help. People are encouraged to write letters, long or short, of a positive nature to a service man or woman overseas and place them in a drop box located in Administrative Services. A student from the group then picks them up each day.
Wannarka said people may not know what to write about, but all they need to do is show their support. He said many men and women overseas become depressed while being away from their families and they question what they are fighting for. He also said many people overseas like to hear about current events that may interest them.
"What we are trying to do is have people write something positive," Wannarka said. "Let them know people are supporting them and maybe let them know about current issues going on back here that they might not hear about. Let them know about local things that are going on that they might be interested in."
When asked how effective the project has been so far, Motschke said it has actually been a little disheartening how few letters the group has received.
She said she sees the project as a good opportunity for people to give something back the troops.
"I think it's good to show your support," Motschke said. "I know I wouldn't have done it on my own but this is a group effort."
Wannarka said he hopes the posters on campus will entice people to get involved with the project.
"We've got until the end of the month to finish up this project so we're hoping that the longer the posters are up, the longer people will respond."
Wannarka also said the majority of letters have come from schools outside the St. Cloud area. Group members contacted schools in their hometowns and asked the teachers if they would have students write little notes. Wannarka said he was surprised St. Cloud area schools were not more willing to help.
"We had a hard time with area schools because around Christmas time they had a big drive for letters so they weren't real eager to help," Wannarka said.
Wannarka said the group ran into another problem when they decided to make a video containing messages to the troops. He said the tape was originally going to be only of the family members of the troops. The group looked to Camp Ripley for assistance. Wannarka said he called the Family Support Office three weeks ago asking if it would be willing to contact family members to see if they were interested in the video, but no one has responded.
"I have not gotten a very good response from Camp Ripley," Wannarka said. "They say they are going to help us but then they do not call me back. It's been very difficult."
Wannarka said when the group initially got together they weighed the pros and cons, but he was still surprised that the schools and Camp Ripley have not been more willing to help.
"I was really surprised because you always hear about people asking for help and then when you try and do something, you run into this barrier, this red tape," Wannarka said. "If we were going to do this project over again I would definitely weigh the cons more heavily, but we were so gung-ho about the pros and being able to help the troops and make them feel more positive."
Once the project ends April 30, the group will be graded on a final report and presentation. Even if the group does not receive many letters, Wannarka and Motschke feel they have still learned a lot.
"It helps me understand a little what the troops are dealing with," Motschke said. "I learned a lot and that's what it's all about."
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