Project Mercury

Nov. 12 - Project Mercury was started by a Canadian soldier, Master Cpl. Russell Storring, who had been deployed in Rwanda in 1994 and had seen all to much suffering there. These days he is a kids' saviour. He enlisited his mother to organize a drive to gather clothes and shoes for orphans in Afghanistan.

In August, [Master Cpl.] Storring, a 29-year-old father of three, started Project Mercury Hope, an initiative to collect clothes, toys and school supplies for orphans in Kabul.

Storring called his mother and asked her to encourage friends and family to donate items for some 1,200 children.

[...]

After her son's initial plea for help, Atkins gathered 26 boxes of supplies and sent them to Kabul. This week, a military flight from CFB Trenton will carry two triwalls of footwear, five with clothes and 1 1/2 each of toys and school supplies overseas.

Storring was born to be a soldier, his mother said. His father, Floyd, who died four years ago, was a World War II veteran.

"Russell was 3 or 4 and he knew he wanted to be in the army. He wanted to be just like dad," Atkins said.

Atkins herself is president of the Canadian Legion in Tamworth, about 50 km northwest of Kingston.

The project is named for Mercury, the Roman messenger god and the symbol of the signal unit of the army.

Most good ideas inspire others, and this one affected Traci Mohamed, a grade 7/8 teacher at Kennedy Public School in Scarborough, who saw a TV interview with Master Cpl. Storring and decided to help, rallying students and teachers in the process. They gathered over 60 boxes of supplies which will be delivered to a local legion this week.

Ah, the underappreciated Legion again! And we thought they only sold poppies once a year and sponsored youth baseball teams!

For more information on the project visit Mercury Hope. Please note that they will not accept money, but do request that monetary donations go to the Red Cross Fund for Afghan Children (website linked at Mercury Hope.)

There are some good people who really do think of the children.

Posted by: Debbye at 05:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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