Lt Niles Motschenbacher sits in with an elementary school class in Mosul. He was moved by the need of the kids for adequate school supplies and asked his family to help out.
Lt Niles Motschenbacher sits in with an elementary school class in Mosul. He was moved by the need of the kids for adequate school supplies and asked his family to help out. |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 7, 2004--Fourteen large boxes filled with school supplies, books and toys are on their way to needy schoolchildren in Northern Iraq, thanks to the generous spirit of ARRL Headquarters staff members.
Packages of pencils, paper, pens, crayons and other school supplies were shipped out of the ARRL Warehouse, paid for with a private anonymous donation. ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Dennis Motschenbacher, K7BV, spearheaded the Headquarters effort. His nephew, 2nd Lt Niles Motschenbacher, is serving with a US Army unit near the city of Mosul.
Niles Motschenbacher's Stryker battalion group works with local officials to stabilize area services, Dennis Motschenbacher said. "The battalion has been tasked with working with local groups such as fire departments, schools and hospitals. One of Niles' jobs is regularly touring the schools," he said. "He said he was shocked the first time he went into a school building and found 100 kids in a single room, sitting on the floor and sharing a few pencils."
 ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Dennis Motschenbacher, K7BV, sent out the word to ARRL staff regarding his nephew's request. The result: a mountain of supplies and toys for the schoolchildren of Mosul, Iraq. |
Niles has a background of working with school kids. His mother is an elementary school teacher in Alaska and both Niles and his sister Anna would regularly stop in to their mother's classroom after their own junior high or high school classes were over. Niles wrote to Anna and asked if she could put the word out to their family to gather up a few school supplies and send them to him in Iraq.
"When I got Anna's note, I thought of the people here at ARRL Headquarters and how generous they are. I put up a few flyers on bulletin boards and set up a donation box in the employee lunchroom. I was stunned to see all of the things that came in. And people were not looking for recognition--they just anonymously dropped things in at the beginning of the day, much of it new materials. It's all very moving to see the response."
Picking up the theme, ARRL Administrative Assistant to the
CEO Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ, donated a small mountain of toys to the shipment.
"It's important for children to have time for other things beside school
books," she said. "Toys let kids be kids, no matter where they are in the
world."
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