Adopt-A-Soldier Platoon
Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon got started literally by accident. About two weeks after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Mary-Edna Krutchkoff, a school nurse at the time, had her parked car hit in the school parking lot by the school’s female custodian. Mary-Edna called her husband Alan at work at Unilever Bestfoods in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and explained there was serious damage to her car. “Couldn’t she see your car in the parking lot?” he asked, somewhat angrily. “She had a lot on her mind,” Mary-Edna replied, who then went on to say that the woman’s son-in-law had just deployed to Iraq. “Oh,” was Alan’s remark, whose emotion changed from anger to empathy. He then contacted a buddy at work, Holmes Brady and said, “Let’s adopt this kid. He’s a sergeant in the 82d Airborne.”
Turns out that Holmes’ dad was in the 82d during World War II. So there was an instant connection. The two men went to the company store and started buying goodies for the young sergeant. And the word spread amongst their fellow employees that they were supporting a deployed infantryman. Soon after, others came to them with loved ones who were serving. And teammates offered to help support the mission by donating $20 bills. Within a few months, there were about 25 folks supporting three Marines and the original “Adoptee.” Krutchkoff said, “We’re the size of a small platoon. Let’s call ourselves the Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon.” And that’s how the Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon was formed. Fifteen years later, it’s more active than ever.
The mission of Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon is to lift the morale and support the welfare of active members and veterans of the United States Armed Forces, their immediate families, and the immediate families of deceased veterans.
Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon is constantly sending care packages downrange to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. These packages let our brave Americans know we are thinking about them and their sacrifices far from home are not in vain.
Our most recent large packing event was our “Winter Close Out Pack” on January 28, 2020, to ship out the last of our Christmas-time items. We packed about 300 cartons of treats for our Troops. Currently, AaSP has about 60 units we are supporting, including; units in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, the Arabian Gulf, the African continent, Syria, Korea and across the high seas. We send healthy snacks; entertainment amenities; coffee machines and fresh roasted coffee; exercise kits and anything else they might need. Also, we are now the Official Care Package Arm of the Special Forces Charitable Trust. We support Green Berets and Special Operators all over the world.
In 2021 Unilever is donating $10,000 to support Adopt-A-Soldier Platoon’s mission & is running a sweepstakes to bring awareness to this important organization. Enter to win here: https://caa.operationintouch.com/degreesweeps2021
