For the past two decades, hundreds of thousands of American troops stationed overseas have received relief supplies through the mail thanks to the tireless dedication of Wendy Rocca. It all started with a single box Rocca made for her daughter-in-law who was deployed in 2004. Rocca soon learned that a shocking number of service members were not receiving support or mail.
“Who would think our troops are undersupplied? This is America,” said Rocca, a broker with Keller Williams Boston Northwest and president of Operation American Soldier (OAS) in Watertown, Mass. “At the end of this month, we’ll be delivering 200 boxes to bases in Iraq that don’t have anywhere to buy supplies and don’t have enough of what they need.”
Since receiving the Good Neighbor Award with her husband, John, in 2010, Rocca has expanded her efforts with Operation American Soldier, packaging and shipping more than 150,000 items of relief supplies for military personnel from a massive Victorian building called the Private Charles J. Shutt Marine Corps League Detachment.
“We’ve had letters from chaplains and staff sergeants saying that this soldier was having major mental health issues and when they received an OAS box with their name on it, it made all the difference in their world,” Rocca explained. “It reminds them that they’re not alone and that people are there for them.”
Thousands of soldiers’ lives changed
“Wendy is the glue that holds everybody together and helps everyone achieve their goals,” says Jillian Tarr, an Army veteran and warranty manager for Grappone Inc./Ford Motor Company Service Division in Franklin, New Hampshire.[OAS is] We send our love and support to all those without families and contribute to building more equitable and vibrant communities.”
Tarr, who served in the Army Military Police (MP) from 2004 to 2012, became involved with OAS 20 years ago after meeting Rocca’s son. As the nonprofit has grown, Tarr has seen thousands of volunteers help the organization grow and support victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, local veterans, and police and military events.
“You’d think that over time some people would lose enthusiasm or try to push the mission onto others, but Wendy is just as passionate after 20 years as she was on day one,” Tarr said. “That says a lot about her and how important she considers this mission, with her children and husband all serving.”
The proliferation of mail from that single box on his kitchen table was “unintentional,” Rocca said. After his daughter-in-law began sending him names of soldiers who weren’t receiving their mail, “we started sending out more boxes. Before we won the Good Neighbor Award, we were officially nobody. The Good Neighbor Award gave us credibility and funding.”
A pocket-sized notebook makes all the difference
Prominent in each package are personal notes: kind messages from volunteers reminding soldiers that someone cares, drawings by elementary school students and a request for the names of others who need emotional support.
In one example, a drawing helped a 20-year-old female soldier who had no family to help her out: She wrote to her every day and sent her packages containing miscellaneous items and drawings by her preschooler, who was serving her second tour of duty.
“She was the only woman on her unit, and like many others, she got to the point where she was done with it. She sat down on the side of the road and said, ‘I’m not going home. I have nothing, I have no one to go to,'” Rocca explains. “And she took a folded up photo out of her pocket. She had this little photo and she went home and said, ‘Someone sent me that photo.’ This is why we do this, because we can’t afford not to do it.
“How do I tell the next contingent that’s asking for my support that I don’t think they’re that important? How do I say, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore’? I can’t.”
One of Tarr’s most memorable moments was getting a list of soldiers from the 2008 Iraq deployment. “A lot of people who join the military don’t have families, so they don’t expect to get a letter,” she said. “Once they reach military age, [foster] “They’re trying to find purpose within the military system. In many cases, they join the military because it gives them housing, stability, a career and a springboard to take off and make their own way.”
A few weeks later, an Iraqi Humvee mail truck made a surprise delivery of American packages to soldiers, who “sat on the ground right next to the Humvee and ripped open the boxes,” Tarr explains. “It was like kids in a candy store. It was amazing.” One of the soldiers called Tarr aside to thank him.
Rocca remembers other heartwarming stories, including a volunteer who brought a soldier in Hawaii to tears by strumming a box of toy ukuleles, a volunteer who made plans to go out to lunch in the future with a soldier from his town, and a soldier who emailed him, “Thank you so much for the peanut butter. It was amazing. Thank you so much.”
“It’s a blessing not only to the person who receives it, but also to the person who sends it,” Rocca says of the care packages.
Promoting the development of non-profit organizations
Tarr said Rocca’s ability to rise to the challenge and “build bridges of connection” is what drives her community work, adding that she works 40 to 60 hours a week.
Plus, Rocca is a sociable person. “She’s very outgoing, she has a sweet, friendly personality, she’s very approachable, so it makes a big difference,” Tarr says. “She’s always the one who stops what she’s doing to try to help, and is the bridge builder for someone to realize that they can support the military without supporting the administration or the mission.”
The publicity from the Good Neighbor Awards not only validated Rocca’s nonprofit, but “catapulted us to where we are now,” Rocca says. “We have a lot of Realtors who have boxed us in, but when we get a letter or an email back, it makes you feel like you’ve made an impact. It’s a big thing to know you’ve helped someone.”
She continues to see Operation American Soldier as a calling she’s been called to. And for professionals called to nonprofit work, Rocca has this advice: “You know how to run a real estate business, so if you want to start something, make a plan and get some people to start with you. You can’t do it alone. REALTORS® give to people. I love what I do and I love the people in this community.”
For more information, visit operationamericansoldier.org.
