TEMECULA -- As the holiday season descended on the Morris household, it was business as usual, with the kids telling Mom which presents they wanted and their wish lists growing with each passing day.
So when Carla Morris received an e-mail from her deployed husband, Marine Maj. Kyle Morris, asking if their 10-year-old daughter and her friends had some winter clothes they could spare so his unit could distribute them to children in Iraq, something clicked for the Temecula mother of two.
"I'm busy hearing what the kids want, and here are people over there that don't have clothes for the winter," she said.
She e-mailed her husband back and said she thought she could do better than just going through her daughter's closet. She then launched a winter clothing drive.
Morris, whose children attend Van Avery Prep, a private kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school in Temecula, teamed up with the school's Girl Scouts Cadette Troop 1707 to coordinate the effort.
The girls, who are middle school-age, already volunteer at the Assistance League of Temecula Valley's thrift shop, and troop leader Kristina Macarro said she believed the project would show them that their efforts could also reach around the globe.
The troop had a meeting to discuss the situation in Iraq. Then, they created fliers and passed them around campus, calling for donations of sweaters and jackets, especially for young girls and teens, as well as stuffed animals, diapers and other items.
The troop also created a scrapbook of information about Morris' unit, Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Logistics Group, to detail for students and their families what the unit is all about and what would be done with the donated items.
The scrapbook contained a letter from Maj. Morris, who explained that many Iraqis lack the basic necessities that Americans usually take for granted, and described a program in which female Marines and sailors of all ranks meet with the female population in Iraq and provide basic medical and dental services.
"These visits are called the Iraqi Women's Engagement, and are conducted at the numerous villages around the 1st Marine Logistics Group area of responsibility," Morris wrote. "During these visits items such as modest clothing for young girls and teens, diapers, and even stuffed toys can be distributed and provide a better overall quality of living for these war weary people."
The response from the school was overwhelming, with piles of clothes, toys, diapers and other items donated. The troop was thrilled with the turnout.
"We have so much more than they do over there," said 12-year-old Girl Scout Avelaka Macarro, Kristina's daughter. "It was great that we were able to give them an actual Christmas."
Carla Morris and Kristina Macarro packed up 10 boxes of donations, and shipped them off last month using $500 raised through another Van Avery Prep fundraiser.
Another 10 boxes of clothes, items that did not fit within the unit's needs, were donated to local nonprofits, Carla Morris said.
The women said they were pleased with the effort, and also the less tangible lesson it taught the girls in the troop about the spirit of giving.
"Right now, everyone is so materialistic," Kristina Macarro said. "It's all about the new dress for the dance or that new pair of jeans. This taught them that there is value in what we have, and if it doesn't fit -- pass it on."
Carla said her daughter, Megan, learned a similar lesson about giving. More than that, however, it was a way for her to feel closer to her father, who has been deployed since February.
"This was something she was able to do for Daddy," Carla Morris said. "She misses him."
