DERRY — Carol Drouin is a proud mother whose son is stationed in the Army in far-off Iraq.
Drouin is also a nurse practitioner on staff at Center for Life Management in Derry, and her coworkers at the facility wanted to reach out and do something worthy to help not only Drouin's family but many others at the same time.
Drouin's son, Army Capt. Derek Drouin, serves as a troop commander in Richidia, Iraq. The soldier and other troops were helping the people in that area organize a soccer league for children and teens but were in desperate need of supplies.
The CLM community decided to reach out and organize its own drive to gather supplies to help those in the Iraq community.
"Our employees really got behind the idea of a drive to raise funds for supplies including soccer balls, socks, practice jerseys and other items, said Lisa Madden, vice president and chief operating officer overseeing clinical programs at CLM. "It was a way we could provide support to one of our own and help the troops. Plus, what Captain Drouin was trying to do in helping the kids and teens over in Iraq was just so consistent with our mission here at CLM, it was just a perfect cause for our team to support."
The drive was spearheaded and coordinated by executive assistants Joyce Santos and Lynda Silegy who worked many hours to make the effort a success.
Last week, CLM employees packed up the shipment of supplies which should arrive in Iraq in about a week.
The drive netted a total of 84 soccer balls, 63 pairs of athletic socks, 133 practice jerseys and other needed supplies including mechanical pencils and hard candy to treat the kids. To give the troops some much needed diversions for their own recreational time, seven footballs and six basketballs joined the collection to be sent overseas.
