MISSION STATEMENT

The Need. During and after Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages were horrified at the squalor of Iraqi schools, which had been severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Corralled in sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets, Iraqi students lack even the rudimentary supplies that American children take for granted. Libraries and books are almost nonexistent. Without these basic tools of education, Iraqi children face an uphill struggle to learn. "Imagine sending your child to a school in which there are virtually no books, no pencils, no paper, no blackboards," says Hillenbrand. "This is the reality for Iraqi children. The future of the Iraqi nation is being squandered for lack of basic school supplies."

Moved by the plight of these children, many American soldiers have taken it upon themselves to help. Working in small groups on their days off, soldiers gather supplies sent by family members and church groups and take them to villages, sometimes coming under fire as they work to reconstruct the schools and deliver learning tools to Iraqi kids. Their efforts have met with immense gratitude from local Iraqis and their children, who now have access to the basic tools of education for the first time in their lives. "I have seen Iraqi kids climbing on our soldiers and hugging them and kissing them," remembers Sinise, who recently accompanied Army soldiers to a dilapidated school they were rebuilding. "I have seen their smiling faces and their attempts to say 'I love you' in broken English. The folks I saw had hope in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts for what was done for them."

Unfortunately, the need for help is so great and widespread, encompassing some 1,500 schools, that our soldiers' efforts cannot possibly answer the entire problem. The situation is critical. "The future of Iraq lies in the education of its children," says Hillenbrand. "We owe it to them, and to the hundreds of American men and women who gave their lives to bring them freedom, to give these children the basic tools of learning."

The Answer. Inspired by their conversations with Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers as well as Sinise's recent tour of the region, Sinise and Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children, a grass roots program to provide concerned Americans with a means to reach out to Iraqi kids and help support our soldiers' efforts to assist the Iraqi people.

Through the School Supply Kit Program, American children, church groups, and other organizations can help Iraqis by gathering school supplies in local drives, assembling them in kits according to our instructions, then sending them to Heart to Heart International for transport to Iraq, where our soldiers will take them to Iraqi villages.

Sinise, Hillenbrand and the organizers of Operation Iraqi Children believe that the benefits of this program will reach far beyond the recipients of the supplies. By bringing Americans and Iraqis together and demonstrating American devotion to the welfare of the Iraqi people, the program can foster understanding between our nations and generate goodwill between Iraqis and American soldiers. "Every time a box of school supplies is delivered by our troops it will be another small victory for them in helping win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise. "It is a beautiful way to begin a relationship with the future leaders of Iraq. They have been forgotten for so long. Now there is a chance for them."

Special message to Operation Iraqi Children donors, from founders Gary Sinise and Laura Hillenbrand

When we first got together and began talking about founding a program to support Iraqi children, we didn't know what to expect. As dedicated as we were to our mission, we knew that no matter how hard we worked, the success of our program would depend entirely upon the will of the American public to support it. From our research, we knew that there was a wellspring of citizens who were searching for a way to reach out to Iraqi children, but we had no idea if that wellspring was deep and broad enough to bring the kind of massive support that the children of Iraq would need to have the opportunity to thrive. We decided to gamble on the idea that we would find that support, and we created Operation Iraqi Children.

As hopeful as we were, we never could have anticipated the outpouring of generosity that we have encountered. From the day that we launched the program, we have been inundated with correspondence from people across the nation who wanted to pitch in. We have heard from children as young as seven who kicked off school supply drives in their elementary schools; retirees who scoured their attics for supplies that might help an Iraqi child learn; youth groups who have held bake sales to raise money to ship supplies; high schools who have designated the program as an avenue for student community service. Major organizations like Federal Express and the Atlanta Hawks have offered to help in any way they can, while radio stations have raised the call for public support. Even Clay Aiken's fan club has joined us, working to gather enough supplies to fill an 18-wheeler. Our email boxes have been flooded with myriad innovative ideas and suggestions that can make our program more effective.

Because of your generosity, a generation of forgotten children will have the tools they need to learn, grow, and pursue futures of limitless possibility. Iraqi classrooms, once barren and squalid, will be joyful, bountiful places of learning. The American soldiers who will bring these gifts to them will win the Iraqi people's goodwill, admiration and trust. Over and over again, they will hear the words like those that one Iraqi parent spoke to a soldier as his child opened a box of supplies from America: "We will never forget this day."

On behalf of Iraqi children, America's soldiers, and Operation Iraqi Children, thank you for your compassion, your kindness, and your generosity. Your gifts to the Iraqi people will resonate for a long time to come.

Gary Sinise and Laura Hillenbrand

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Special thanks to Ben for pointing out this organization to me. It is great to see the efforts that are going on in Iraq on behalf of Americans to improve and rebuild their country after decades of tyrannical rule.