Granite City, Ill SOAR Chapter Supports Our Troops in Afghanistan

Sarah Smith for Circuit JudgeWhile the annual holiday gift drive was something President Rains’ chapter financed and organized, support has also come from Associate Judge Sarah Smith. According to Rains, Smith has at times offered to pay for the postage and shipment of the supplies and has gone out of her way to help get them in the hands of our men and women overseas.  Sarah also serves as a Lt. Colonel in the Illinois National Guard  and supplied the names of the troops in Afghanistan who will soon be enjoying the boxes loaded with those hard to get treats that were donated by SOAR members for Christmas.

L
ike many SOAR chapter presidents, Jeff Rains (President of Chapter 34-2 in Granite City, Illinois) seldom runs out of stories about the activism of his chapter’s members.

Recently he called to tell us about Shirley Luffman, a retiree who worked for 30 years at the Granite City Engineer Depot and current member of Rains’ SOAR chapter. Shirley’s son, Capt. Jeff Luffman, was first stationed in Kosovo in 1997, at which time she took it upon herself to begin sending “holiday gift boxes” to the men and women he served with. Shirley has not missed a year since then, and five years ago she approached her SOAR chapter with the idea of making this something they should consider building upon.

With support from the chapter’s membership, the collection has grown every year since. On November 27, the chapter mailed out 24 large postal boxes of supplies to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. In 2017 alone, the chapter has sent more than 200 pounds of supplies including everything from batteries, snack bars, raisins, coffee, and more that has been donated by their nearly 500 members.

While the annual holiday gift drive was something President Rains’ chapter financed and organized, support has also come from Associate Judge Sarah Smith. According to Rains, Smith has at times offered to pay for the postage and shipment of the supplies and has gone out of her way to help get them in the hands of our men and women overseas. 

“All of this could not be done without Shirley and with the members of our SOAR chapter who so generously donated to our annual drive,” says President Rains. “Associate Judge Smith has been a great friend, and we greatly appreciate the support she’s given to see these shipments through.  I know it really matters to folks like Shirley’s son and others who give so much.” Associate Judge Smith is running for Circuit Judge in 2018.