Gift drive targets 'Little Soldiers'
Presents collected for children of deployed military personnel
BY SHARON LEFF Staff Writer

RED BANK — This holiday season, as part of Project Little Soldier, municipalities in the 12th District will give gifts to children of United States military personnel who are serving overseas.

According to a press release issued by the 12th District legislative office, municipalities will be given paper stars with the names of soldiers' children and a wish list with two gifts, to post in their municipal buildings.

Residents can stop by, pick up a star and then return with a gift to be placed in a collection bin provided by the town. All of the military personnel whose children are on the list are residents of New Jersey.

Stars will include a child's name, age and gender. The program is operated under the direction of American Recreational Military Services (ARMS).

Annmarie Howley, director of constituent services for District 12, said there has been a lot of interest from the local community. Participating towns so far include: Fair Haven, Oceanport, Red Bank, Little Silver, Tinton Falls, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Colts Neck, Marlboro and Millstone.

"Many towns have asked for more stars. Businesses have been getting involved," she said. "Off the bat, we took about 500 stars. [Now] I have a call in to get more stars from the organization that runs it."

Howley said Freehold Township and Colts Neck are among the towns that have already requested additional stars.

She said this year, ARMS is "looking to collect 7,000 gifts for 3,500 children of New Jersey military deployed to the Middle East over the holiday season."

Since the Iraq war started, the program has provided more than 38,250 gifts to children of deployed soldiers.

The idea for Little Soldiers started with Red Bank resident Ronnie Micciulla, executive director of ARMS.

Howley said the gifts are distributed by Micciulla. Sen. Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (all R-12th District) are helping to coordinate and promote the program.

According to a statement released by the legislators, "We are thrilled that many of the towns in our district have chosen to participate in this program, which benefits the children of the men and women of New Jersey who are serving our country overseas. While we realize people's budgets may be stretched this year due to the economic climate, we hope that they can find room for a gift for a child whose mom or dad may not be with them during the holidays."

Howley said encouraging municipalities to participate didn't take a lot of persuasion.

"We didn't do much to get them involved. As soon as we sent out a letter telling them of the program, there wasn't much convincing," she said. "Who doesn't want to help these children whose families

aren't home?"

A letter was sent out to 16 municipalities in the district and was followed up with phone calls.

According to the Project Little Soldier Web site, some of the donations sought include gift cards from Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, toy cars, trucks, trains, baby dolls, Barbie dolls, Dora dolls, Bratz dolls, action figures and children's books, as well as hats and gloves.

Howley said this is the first time the program has been able to reach out to so many different areas.

"Usually they would get their toys from a drive that would happen for one day here or there, or if there was an organization that would do a Toys for Tots toy drive," she said. "This is the first time there has been this effort to get it out to one whole area."

Tom Fitzsimmons, 12th Legislative District spokesman, said this is a program he'd like to see municipalities in the 12th District participate in again next year.

"Already just from the response, we can characterize [the program] as a total success," he said.

Fitzsimmons said the strong reaction and the need for more stars only one week into the program mean it's already a success.

The Project Little Soldier program started Nov. 10 and will run through Dec. 5.

For more information about how to donate a gift, donors should contact their local borough clerk or call Howley at 732-933- 1591.

More information can also be found at www.supportarms.org/littlesoldier.html.

To make a monetary donation, make checks payable to ARMS and mail to 64 Harding Road, Red Bank, NJ 07701.