‘Operation Mississippi Gratitude’ Still Needs Donations, Volunteers For Care Packages For Soldiers

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Donations are still needed for a project that will ship a care package to every deployed soldier with the Mississippi Army National Guard.

Members of Salem Baptist Church from Itawamba County spent part of their afternoon packing the care packages at American Legion Post 49 in Tupelo.

Last month,  the Post kicked off “Operation Mississippi Gratitude,” and began taking donations of items such as soap, non perishable foods, powdered drink mixes and other things that can be placed into care packages.

The goal is to get care packages for all 4,000 members of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team.

“I’ve been in the Army for 28 years on active duty , and it sort of breaks your heart when you see a soldier walk away when it’s mail call time, because he knows he’s not receiving any mail, so we want to make sure that every single soldier from Mississippi gets at least one package from us around Veteran’s Day,” said Mike Pettigrew, Commander of American Legion Post 49.

People can donate through the Post,  go fund me, or the CREATE Foundation.  For more information, go to facebook.com/pg/legionpost49tupelo