Sometimes the smallest gesture can move mountains. A few Waldoboro citizens, with some support from friends and neighbors, are sending 80 dozen locally homebaked cookies to soldiers in Iraq this week.
It is a feat that stunned more than one bystander and has garnered support from local stores, bakeries and individuals.
Resident Doug Carpenter and resident/soldier Darcie Philbrook got several people to bake sheet after sheet of cookies for 172 young men and women from Maine who are serving in Iraq.
“I wanted to do something for that company out of Auburn,” Carpenter said, speaking of a transport division with the Army Reserve.
He said he only had first names of some of the cookie bakers: Jess at the Narrows Tavern, Anita, Buddy and a dozen other people.
“It can only be people I know and trust,” he said, “because these are going to soldiers in a war zone.”
Carpenter also mentioned Moody’s Diner and Fernald’s Country Store as among those who contributed cookies.
“He really inspired people to do this,” said Andi Spaulding, another Waldoboro resident who baked and packaged cookies for the soldiers.
Philbrook, who is also a member of the division, called her fiancé to find out what their fellow soldiers would most want. She said homemade cookies topped the list.
The soldiers are getting their toiletry and other supply needs met, but often lack in the area of entertainment, such as music CDs, movies, games and puzzles. Philbrook said she wants to come up with a list of items to send to fellow soldiers, but wants to make sure the cookies make it to their destination first.
Philbrook is a truck driver and diesel mechanic and her fiancé is a radio and communications specialist. They both work for a transport company who supply other companies with water and equipment. The cookies will be sent to his boss, she said.
“There are some guys over there who don’t have families to send packages,” Philbrook said. “It’s really personal, homemade and there’s love in it. A touch of home is all they’re asking for. They get lonely, they get frustrated and just something from home is a reminder that people still care and think about them.”
Carpenter said they would accept donations to help with the cost of postage. Checks can be made out to Darcie Philbrook, 41 Prior Lane, Cushing, 04563. For more information contact Philbrook at 354-2052 or 242-2241. Carpenter can be reached at 413-575-4179.
