School supplies from New Ulm arrive for Baghdad students

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Students in the Al-Jasmine Primary School in Baghdad got a big surprise recently when American soldiers arrived with loads of school supplies, enough for each child in the school.

According to the 1st Armored Division's newspaper, "The Old Ironsides Report," soldiers enlisted the help of a disabled student in a wheelchair to help distribute the supplies

Backpacks and bookbags full of copybooks, pencils, erasers, crayons and other needed supplies were handed out to the 350 students in the school.

Lt. Col. Chuck Sexton, 1-36 Infantry Commander, told the students, "We would like you to be our kids for a few moments because we miss our families back home and consider all Iraqi children as members of our extended family. So please accept our gifts."

"These school supplies are important to us because you children represent the future of Iraq," said Col. Peter Mansoor, commander of the "Ready First" Brigade in Baghdad. "Usse them for learning, use them with our best wishes, use them in peace."

Mansoor told the students the supplies were not gifts from the U.S. government. "They are from your friends in the McDonald's corporation, the people of New Ulm and from many of our friends and families in the United States."

The school supplies project got started in the fall last year when Mansoor told his friends, including his godfather, Denis Warta in New Ulm, about the poor condition of the Iraqi schools in the area he commands.

"It's criminal that Saddam spent billions of dollars on dozens of palaces and didn't spend a dime removating his nation's education infrastructure," Mansoor said in a recent e-mail. " Most of the schools are run-down, with non-functioning electricity and plumbing. The United States Army has done more in Baghdad for these schools in the past nine months than Saddam did in 30 years."

Warta began a fundraising drive to buy and ship school supplies directly to Mansoor to assure they would get to the children and not on the black market. The Rotary Club of New Ulm served as a collection point for the funds.

About $3,000 in cash was raised, and corporate contributions helped out as well. McDonald's Corp. donated 50,000 packets of Crayon four-packs and shipped them to Iraq. Thrivent Financial donated $800, Target provided another $750 in merchandise, and 3M donated a large quantity of plastic bandages, Scotch tape and other supplies.

Mansoor said the supplies were enough for all 350 students in the Al-Jasmine school, with enough for about 200 more students. There are enough McDonalds crayons to supply a pack for nearly every student in the Rusafa School District.

Mansoor said before the donated supplies arrived, students used whatever supplies their parents could afford to get for them, which often wasn't much.

(Information from The Old Ironsides Report, Jan. 29 edition, was used in this article)