Desert Messenger

14 www.DesertMessenger.com October 7, 2015 www.facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews Quartzsite Calendar dot com Q uartzsite Calendar.com Q uartzsite Calendar.com Q uartzsite Calendar. com NEW Quartzsite Sponsored by Desert Messenger COMMUNITY CALENDAR by Joanne Winer Operation Hero Comfort found- er Anita Carlson has been working tirelessly for many years making up packages to send to adopted troop units that are in harm's way. Anita and her husband Doc formed this non-profit organiza- tion several years ago, and when Doc passed away Anita decided to keep it going with the help of fam- ily and volunteers. They started out packaging the boxes on their porch, but these days all is being done now at a warehouse in the back of Isaiah 58 project. Anita spends a lot of her time for Operation Hero Comfort just getting items donated to go into the boxes. She has several places in town that let her put up donation boxes for products, and smaller cans to raise funds for postage. Once a year, Anita asks businesses and vendors to donate items for the annual Silent Auction to also raise money for postage. Each box costs over $15 to send, and cur- rently they send out 10 boxes each month. This will change in another two weeks--Anita was approached by a military chaplain and was asked to adopt 5 units that he currently deals with, who are on special assignments and have none coming to them. Of course, she said yes, so we now have 10 units adopted, and that means 40 boxes (more during holidays) to send each month. Anita has been community manager for the Las Casas de Quartzsite and Senior Apart- ments, at the east end of town for many years. As part of her job, she attends meetings and seminars in Phoenix every once in awhile. Ever since she started as manager, she has emailed all her other man- ager attendees who come to the meetings and asked them to save small toiletry items they get from the hotels they stay in and bring them to the Regional meeting for the troop packages. The response from her fellow managers and bosses has been great, and each time she comes back from her meetings, there are boxes of items for the troops! Just this past week, Anita at- tended the Regional meeting/train- ing session in Phoenix for all the Arizona regional managers and maintenance workers. She not only got top points for her evaluation, but surprisingly was rewarded for her efforts for the troops by Vil- lage Management, co-owners of the apartment complexes here in Quartzsite. The certificate she received reads: "Certificate of Recognition awarded to Anita Carlson for your dedication and support for our American Service Members thru your organization Operation Hero Comfort. Awarded this 24th day of Sept. 2015. Signed and presented by Carole Knowles, Regional Man- ager over all Arizona properties for Village Management." Anita really appreciates their support, and thanks everyone for making Operation Hero Comfort such a success and helping our troops. It takes a lot of dedication to work so hard getting donations, packing boxes, writing notes, and doing all the work to make this happen, and she deserves all the recognition she gets. This is a true labor of love and she has made the statement many times that she will keep doing it as long as there are troops in harm's way. I have vol- unteered for this awesome group since it started here, and I am so proud to be part of Anita's vision of helping our brave men and women at a time when they really need to hear how much support we want them to have. Anyone who would like to help our troops by contributing non- perishable food items, items for the Silent Auction coming Dec. 12, or items such as books, magazines, CDS, DVDS, stationery, toiletries etc. just call Anita and she can arrange to get them, or drop them off at the office at the Senior Hous- ing, or Reader's Oasis Bookstore. Every little thing we can do for our troops shows how much we support them, and makes you feel good to be able to help. You can call Anita at 763-639-9330 for any further information. Operation Hero Comfort receives special recognition Anita Carlson (right) receiving certificate from Carole Knowles, Regional Manager of Village Management (left) ����� | S������ �� D����� M�������� The 2015-2016 Quartzsite Visi- tor Guide & Business Directory is now available for RV Parks, Swap Meets, and businesses to distrib- ute. This year 50,000 Guides were printed, which is 30,00 more than in previous years. 10,000 copies have already been distributed since mid-August; at the League of Ari- zona Cities & Towns Annual Con- ference, Arizona Off-Road Expo, and in many local chambers. The Visitor Guide is also available to view online at www.QuartzsiteVisitorGuide.com. To arrange for pick up, call Janet at Town Hall, 928-927-4333. Town Hall is located at 465 N. Plymouth Ave. Quartzsite. Visitor Guides available from Town Hall

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