Outreach program's food supply running low

By: J. STRYKER MEYER - Staff Writer | Friday, September 14, 2007 11:35 PM PDT ∞

A week before he died, political consultant Jack Orr called to praise a group that is dedicated to helping today's young warriors obtain food and other comforts.

In May, he had donated a coffee maker, a microwave oven and other items to the Military Outreach Ministry on Camp Pendleton. "Stryker, you have to write about these people," Orr urged me at the time, "because this is a first-class organization."

This week, Patty Dutra, association director of Military Outreach Ministry, outlined a series of needs that her group of volunteers is addressing today:

First and foremost, the group is kicking off its fall food collection campaign. "Our warehouse on base is getting too low and we have to get back on track with resupplying it, because the need for food for our younger families is never ending."

This group distributes food to service members eight times a month.

Second, Dutra and her volunteers want to set up as many food collection sites as possible across North County. "We're trying to get collection centers in every military service group and will welcome any organization or group who collects food for our service members," she said.

Why do they work so hard at this mission? "The key to our operation is that we do it out of gratitude to our service men and women," Dutra said.

Call Dutra at (760) 846-1650 or e-mail her at: patty.dutra@militaryoutreachministry.org.

VANC FUNDRAISER -- Fellow columnist Tom Morrow and representatives from Oceanside-based Leatherneck Publishing Co. will join me at the Veterans Associations of North County fundraiser and luncheon from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 22, where we'll be selling our military books and donating 10 percent of each sale to the VANC.

Morrow is in his second printing of "Nebraska Doppelganger," a World War II novel, and several of the local veterans he wrote about in "For Love of Their Country" are scheduled to be on hand.

Leatherneck Publishing will sell four of its books at the event: "An Angel Rode My Wing" by Oceanside resident and retired Marine Lt. Col. Neil Levin, "Of Ice and Steel," "A Corpsman's Legacy" and "Street Fight in Iraq."

This will be my first public sale of my second book, titled "On The Ground."

CARE BOXES -- The Encinitas Elks have accomplished their goal of collecting items to fill 100 care packages for Marines assigned to the Weapons Company of the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines in Iraq, "and we're going to keep them well supplied," said Ruth Osborn. The Elks are hosting a Purple Heart Luncheon for wounded Marines Oct. 2. Call Osborn at (760) 439-8499.

Contact staff writer J. Stryker Meyer at (760) 901-4089 or jmeyer@nctimes.com.

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