To the Troops, With Love

The Orange County Register | Mindy Schauer

Cookies bring a sense of home for the holidays.

ASSEMBLY LINE: Word of Comfort, Hope and Promise, a military-outreach organization founded by Cynthia Martinez, second from left, puts together packages for those serving in Iraq.

MESSAGE FOR MARINE: A postcard thanking a Marine will be included in his care package. Volunteers assembled the boxes which included homemade cookies and blankets.

About 60 volunteers assembled care packages Saturday for members of the Marines and the Army National Guard who are serving in Iraq. “Words of Comfort, Hope and Promise” is a military-outreach organization that adopts battalions of servicemen and women and also supports families at home.

On Saturday, volunteers put together 227 packages that included about 15,000 homemade cookies, other snacks and toiletries, said the group’s founder, Cynthia Martinez of San Clemente. An Irvine Girl Scout troop supplied about 13,000 of the 15,000 cookies.

GETTING READY TO SHIP OUT: Word of Comfort, Hope and Promise, a military-outreach organization boxes up goods, including homemade cookies and blankets to National Guardsmen who are deployed in Iraq.