PATTERSON

Children hand bags of candy, which is piled on the cafeteria stage, to teacher Eleanora Smith at the Matthew Paterson Elementary School. Eric Gross The Matthew Paterson Elementary School resembled a candy store when boys and girls brought 737 pounds of candy to class.

The sweets were collected, sorted, and packaged last week by teacher Elenora Smith and by Joni Cristello-Eberly, of Pawling, finance officer of the United in their Honor organization—a non-profit that supports military men and women stationed overseas.

Children were asked to donate candy collected during their Halloween trick or treating, to be included in care packages sent to the troops stationed in Afghanistan during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Cristello-Eberly said while thousands of troops bear the “physical and emotional scars of war, United in their Honor provides positive support through care packages, visits, and practical aid to boost the morale of the young men and women stationed half way around the globe.”

Cristello-Eberly told the Courier: “We want them to know that they are not forgotten. They put their lives on the line each day and work so hard. They leave their families for months at a time on our behalf. When children support the troops they send a special message.”

Smith asked her colleagues to have each child in the school write a little note to the troops: “Imagine what this will mean to a young soldier when he or she opens that package of candy from home and reads a note from a 6-, 7-, 8-, or 9-year-old wishing them well.”

MPES Principal Linda Rossetti said the project came from the heart: “The children are comfortable knowing that they are helping the troops.”

—Eric Gross