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Directors:
Colette Gurin
Beth
O’Rourke
Tim
Traynor
Spiritual Director
Father
Tom McCarthy, OSA
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Colette Gurin 708.243.9847
Beth
O’Rourke 773.615.0529
ComPadres Gear Up Again as Chaplain
Returns to Iraq;
Hold Third “Hearts From Home”
Fundraiser For U.S. Troops
The
ComPadres’ favorite chaplain, Fr. John Barkemeyer, recently returned to
Iraq, this time with the Third Infantry Division to Iraq’s restless Al
Anbar province. Now, the ComPadres’ quest - to raise funds to support
the chaplains and the troops - has a renewed sense of urgency and
purpose.
The
ComPadres, a volunteer group based on the South Side of Chicago that
assists U.S. military chaplains and troops in Iraq and elsewhere
overseas, will be holding their third “Hearts From Home” fundraiser on
Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2007. The event was first held on
Valentine’s Day in February 2005.
The
ComPadres began as a group of parishioners and friends of Fr. John, a
Roman Catholic priest who was the pastor of St. Cajetan Roman Catholic
Parish in the Beverly Hills/Morgan Park community at that time. The
group has since expanded to include volunteers and supporting schools
from throughout the Chicagoland area.
Fr. John
joined the Army Reserves in 2004 as a chaplain after learning about the
dire shortage that existed in the ranks of military chaplains.
Responding to the needs that he observed while serving in Iraq in 2005,
Fr. John resigned his pastorate at St. Cajetan and joined the regular
Army as a full-time chaplain. He was reassigned in late 2006 to the 3rd
Infantry Division and has recently deployed to Iraq for a second tour of
duty.
The “Hearts
from Home” campaign is one of several initiatives that ComPadres have
undertaken in the past few years. Others include the task of
incorporating ComPadres as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation,
obtaining “501c(3)” status to qualify for tax deductible contributions,
setting up and maintaining its web site at
www.thecompadres.org, and, most importantly, purchasing and shipping
a substantial quantity of supplies, gifts and support materials for
members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq and elsewhere.
For the
“Hearts From Home” fundraiser, which raised a total of over $32,000 in
its first and second stagings in 2005 and 2006, the ComPadres invite
Chicagoland schools to participate by offering their students the
opportunity to dress casually for the day, or to mark the day in some
other way the school deems appropriate. Each student pays a nominal
amount – usually $1 or $2 - for the privilege of participating, and is
given a heart sticker to wear in school the day of the fundraiser to
demonstrate their involvement. In addition to raising needed funds,
this event also gives school administrators and teachers the opportunity
to address and discuss the importance of the sacrifices that U.S.
military personnel are making on a regular basis, as well as the concept
of service in general. Some schools have successfully used articles Fr.
John wrote during his first Iraq deployment as a basis for such
discussions. The articles are available at the “Media & Events” page of
the ComPadres web site.
Over the
last two years, the ComPadres have sent many thousands of dollars worth
of phone cards, PX gift cards, religious supplies and other requested
items to Fr. John and his fellow chaplains, who serve all soldiers
regardless of religious affiliation, so that they in turn can share them
with the troops at opportune times. According to Fr. John, “A great
gift to deployed soldiers is the generosity that filters through the
ComPadres. This group’s fundraising efforts have enabled me and other
chaplains to offer free prayer cards, crosses and other religious goods
to soldiers when they need their faith and religion the most; to share
gifts of phone cards with soldiers who desperately need to maintain
their connections with family members and friends back home; to share PX
cards when the troops need a treat; and more. ComPadres have helped me
establish ‘coffee cafés’ in Kuwait and Iraq, and have funded video and
sound projection equipment so religious services for the troops can be
heard more clearly, and movies can be enjoyed more fully. ComPadres
also sent $2,000 and boxes of sweat suits to the chaplains at Landstuhl
Air Force Hospital in Germany, for troops injured in Iraq and
Afghanistan who were being treated there, hoping, in some small way, to
offer them comfort and encouragement in their recovery.”
Fr. John
recently updated ComPadres and all his supporters with the following
message:
“In just a
few days we return to Iraq. This will be my second deployment. I have
mixed feelings about returning. The unit I am with is top notch. I am in
the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. It
is the most deployed division in the Army. I am impressed with the
quality of soldiers I will be deployed with. At the same time I also
experience a sense of dread because I know a year is a long, long time.
“We will be
stationed in the Al Anbar Province, known as “the wild west” of Iraq.
Each of us has been warned to expect “primitive” living conditions. For
some in our group, this will be their third trip. Many, however, are
fresh out of training and are new to this. It will be an interesting
combination of combat veterans and fresh faces.
“I am
grateful to know that the ComPadres will be there to help our soldiers.
Little unexpected things chaplains can do for soldiers often go a long
way in improving morale. Having been there before, I largely know what
to expect and for this I am grateful. But, again, I also know that a
year is a long, long time.”
The
ComPadres are currently signing schools up to participate in this 2007
edition of “Hearts From Home.” For more information on the ComPadres,
please visit
www.thecompadres.org, or call Beth O’Rourke at 773.615.0529 or
Colette Gurin at 708.243.9847.
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