Five area service members set to receive local care packages

This holiday season, five local servicemen and women from the Basin and Greybull areas will be receiving care packages assembled by the community.

The project was spearheaded by Olivia Strohscheim and Barbara Anne Greene, and builds on the care package program that Strohscheim and the Riverside Boosters organized in 2023.

“Last year, during football, I really wanted to do something military-wise,” Strohscheim recalled, noting that she comes from a military family herself . “I think it’s important for our community to teach our kids — younger ones and those in high school — to have pride in and support our military.

“Hearing [my siblings’] stories, yes, it’s a volunteer thing, but they don’t always get a choice once they sign on the dotted line.”

In 2023, Strohscheim and the Boosters were able to organize care packages as well as a silent raffle. With the donations, they sent gifts overseas and made donations to two non-profits that benefit veterans. 

Greene became involved in this year’s program after Strohscheim told her she felt daunted at the prospect of effectively taking on the task alone again.

“Barb said, ‘No, we’ll do it,’” said Strohscheim. “[And] she really headed it up. She worked to find a lot of the donations and with the monetary donations we received, we’ll be able to ship them out by early next week.”

Greene was instrumental in expanding the program’s reach this year. After speaking with Evan Bach, a Riverside graduate, she set out to find additional service members from the area who could benefit from a hometown care package.

“We started talking about different people [who were serving], who had links to Basin and Greybull, and from there, I put out a call to the community asking for anyone serving’s info,” she explained. “We ended up with so many responses. We started with three, but ended up with five and there are still so many others.”

With the names and addresses of the gift box recipients in hand, Greene and Strohscheim began contacting local businesses in the community to solicit either monetary donations or goods that could be included in the boxes.

“I sent out letters to businesses and told them, ‘We understand you get hit up every day, so if you can’t participate, we understand,’ because they’re small businesses and it’s a big piece of the pie, and we wanted to be understanding of that,” said Greene. “But we still ended up with a lot of donations from businesses throughout Big Horn County and also in Cody.”

“It almost made me cry to see the amount of stuff that [the small businesses] gave,” Strohscheim added. “To see everybody step up and say, ‘We want these guys to feel so loved,’ meant a lot. I cannot tell you how impressed I was with our community.”

While small businesses were key donors, the broader Basin and Greybull communities also chipped in: five boxes of Frito-Lay chips were donated privately as were locally smoked meats. One individual delivered tins of homemade fudge for each of the service members. The local FFA group donated food stuffs and personal items while an area 4H group donated s’mores kits. From individuals, groups and the local schools, cards, letters and children’s artwork poured in. 

“People would call from the store and just say, ‘I’m here. What do you need?’” Greene recalls.

In addition to the personal items and foods they sought out, Greene and Strohscheim also requested games, puzzles, art supplies, playing cards, books and magazines for the boxes. Strohscheim noted that in her conversations with the soldiers, they often mentioned times when they felt bored and wanted for games or something to read.

They also included small gifts for service members to give to local children overseas, such as bracelets, candies and Riverside Rebel basketballs.

“Having been raised military and married to a Marine, it was always in my heart that this was an important thing to do,” said Greene. “That they would know they are in our hearts and thoughts, and we want to bring a little bit of Christmas to them.

“When my dad was in Vietnam, once a month, we sent over a package of stuff from home,” she recalled. “We would throw in extras, so they could share. [I remember] we once put in a bunch of maps of Wyoming so they would remember it was home.”

Strohscheim agreed. “[Sending these boxes] is a way to show support for service members and let them know they are in our hearts and prayers. But it’s also a way to support their families because it’s hard on them, too.”

While Greene and Strohscheim have assembled and plan to mail this year’s boxes by early next week, they encourage community members to continue sending items and letters throughout the year. Those who wish to send cards or letters, or even small care packages with personal hygiene items and local foods, are able to drop them off at Riverside High with Roxanne Peterson, the American Legion Auxiliary or the Basin Area Chamber of Commerce offices.