“Weapons of mass affection”
By Tom Hennessy, Columnist
Long Beach Press Telegram
300 Oceangate, Long
Beach, CA 90844
(562) 499-1270
Sunday, 9 November 2008
As Veterans Day approaches, Cheryl
Carter hopes to put smiles on the faces of U.S. troops in Iraq, and on the faces of children they hope to win over to their
side.
At the same time, she admits she also hopes to "put some South in your mouth." That just happens
to be the slogan of the area's four Johnny Rebs' restaurants that have made owner Carter a local legend in Southern cooking
and philanthropy.
In the kitchen, the woman is an artist: the Picasso
of the Peach Cobbler, the Renoir of Ribs, the Holbein of the Hush Puppy.
In the community she is also regarded as a huge dispenser of peanuts. Thousands of them. A bucket full of
them sits on every Johnny Rebs' table. Diners are encouraged to eat all they wish. But they are also encouraged to "pay"
for them with a small donation to various charities.
Through
her peanut philanthropy, for example, hundreds of at-risk kids have gone to camp via the P-T Send-A-Kid-To-Camp program.
At present, the designated peanut charity is Operation Kids.Info, our
program to send toys and school supplies for American soldiers to distribute to children in Iraq.
Carter has enhanced this effort by declaring three November dates as "benefit days"
at Johnny Rebs'. They are Wednesday the 12th, Wednesday the 19th and Tuesday the 25th.
"These are special dates to accommodate OperationKids," says Carter. "The hours
are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., meaning breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fifteen percent of the receipts from guests' meals will go
to purchase toys and school supplies, and to send them, via the U.S. military, to children in Iraq.
"Toy boxes will be at each of Johnny Rebs' four locations during the month of November
to collect new, unwrapped gifts for kids ages 3 to 13. Army troops have suggested such items as soccer balls, tee shirts,
school supplies and Hot Wheel cars. However, the soldiers said any toy will thrill these children."
While J.R. diners are asked to bring a toy, Carter says it is not necessary to do so in
order to have 15 percent of the cost of their meal donated to OperationKids. Showing up with a copy of this column will be
enough. Or just say "OperationKids" to your waiter.
By
the way, our next shipment to Iraq will include about 20 boxes of school supplies donated by the Book Buddies project of the
Molina Foundation. I'll have more on the foundation in a few weeks, including how it may be able to help your charitable program.
Our
man in Iraq
On receiving items donated by OperationKids, U.S.
troops take to the streets and distribute them to the kids. We call the gifts weapons of mass affection and have found they
are more effective than weapons of mass destruction.
But
don't take my word for this. After a recent shipment to the Army's Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, we received this note from
Lt. Col. Keith Barclay: "I am happy to report that the boxes of school supplies and toys have been distributed to eager
recipients throughout the cities of Mosul and Tal Afar.
"The
hard work of OperationKids has made a lasting impact on the lives of Iraqi children and enabled us to demonstrate the good
will of the U.S. as we interact with residents of Ninewa Province."
(Note: Our program started simply as Operation Kids, but the ".Info" had to be added after a Utah
group called Operation Kids threatened to sue our socks off.)
Distorted view
However worthy an enterprise may be, however, there
always seems to be someone who does not understand the full picture. Recently, for example, Carter was contacted by a woman
I will call Ms. Grumpy. The highly annoyed Ms. G wanted to know why Carter was helping kids in Iraq. After all, she said,
aren't they our enemies?
Putting aside Ms. G's wobbly view
of geo-politics, the truth is this:
We don't send these
gifts to Iraqi kids only. As noted above, we send them to American service men and women. In turn, they take to the streets
in places like Ramadi, Mosul and Tal Afar, and give them to the kids who have known too much of war.
As LTC Barclay stressed, this enables the youngsters to see our troops in a positive light.
The parents notice this also. Officers have told us that the gifts result in greater cooperation between their troops and
Iraqi citizens.
Our son, John Tien, an Army officer who proposed the project while
serving in Iraq, believes that country's future rests in great part with its children and with their perception of Americans.
Thus, every gift sent to an Iraqi child also helps our men and women in uniform.
And in a country whose classrooms have taken a big hit, the kids welcome school supplies as much as they do toys.
Gifts
of toys and school supplies are welcome at any time, and may be taken to Postal Annex, 6444 E. Spring Street. Proprietors
Chuck and Temple Roath, our longtime partners in OperationKids, will package your gifts for shipment to Iraq.
If
you cannot afford the postage - and mailing items to Iraq is costly - we have a fund to take care of that, thanks to P-T readers
and organizations such as the Bellflower/Long Beach Elks Lodge #888.
Hope to see you at one of the Johnny Rebs' benefit events. Deb and I will be at the Long Beach restaurant, 4663 Long
Beach Blvd., from 6 to 7 p.m. on the 12th and 19th. On the 25th, same hour, we'll be at J.R.'s in Bellflower, 16638 Bellflower
Boulevard.
The other two Johnny Rebs' restaurants are located
at 2940 E. Chapman Ave., Orange, and 15051 Seventh St., Victorville. You can check out the J.R. menu at
http://www.johnnyrebs.com/
And you can check OperationKids.Info at
http://www.operationkids.info/
One last thing, a thought Cheryl had about our soldiers giving gifts to Iraqi kids. "I fantasize
that as kids receive them, they are moved by the kindness of U.S. citizens. Maybe one day later, as some militants are recruiting
them for terrorist cell training, they will get that the propaganda they are hearing isn't quite right as they remember this
kindness. That's my wildest hope, to narrow the margin between us."
So, go ahead, put some South in your mouth. The kids in Iraq will be grateful. So will our men and women stationed
there.
Tom Hennessy's viewpoint appears Sunday. Message phone (562) 499-1270.
