Four-year-old Lenox Kontoulas walks from one donation box to another selecting items and plopping them into a package that will be shipped to a soldier deployed in nations around Ukraine. Though Lenox does not know the soldier who will get the box, he said he is happy to help — and to have fun — volunteering at The Lamb’s Chapel.  

Lenox is one of many volunteers assembling care packages for soldiers recently deployed.  Members of Western Alamance High School’s sports teams, ROTC members and  community volunteers spent Monday, March 28 packing boxes to be shipped to U.S. soldiers. 

U.S. soldiers have been deployed to NATO countries in Europe, including Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, to support allies amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Anna Liese Call, who serves as executive director of Crosspoint, organized the care package event. Crosspoint is a nonprofit in Burlington that focuses on teaching kids about military experience and veterans. Call’s original goal was to pack 100 boxes, but ended up with 323. 

“It's kind of surreal because we started as such a little organization teaching a class to eight kids, eight years ago, and it has just grown exponentially since then,” Call said. “It shows that our community cares so much about our troops that are going to be going to soldiers that are now serving… We care so much about our soldiers that are in harm's way to keep us safe.”

Since soldiers have been deployed, Call said she has gotten calls from parents asking if Crosspoint can send their child a care package. Call said she always tries to send not just one care package to an individual soldier, but many for the entire unit. Each package costs $21 to send.

For Western Alamance High School students, all of whom spent their day off from school at the church, constructing care packages is just one way they can show support for those overseas. Thomas Bullard, a high school freshman football player at Western Alamance, was among the football players who came to volunteer alongside their coach and classmates. 

“We just wanted to help out the community and let the soldiers know that we’re here for them,” Bullard said. 

ROTC members from Western Alamance High School packed boxes as well. Western Alamance students have the opportunity to take an ROTC class at school to participate in the program. According to high school senior ROTC member Chesnee Gilland, members of ROTC find ways to volunteer each month, to help serve the community. 

High school junior Joey Versace plans on serving in the military after graduation, and said packing the boxes is especially important to him.

“I like doing this kind of stuff because I think about if I was ever there, I'd want to get toys and games,” Versace said. “But they wouldn't all be for me. I would want to give them to the refugees that need them.” 

James Chesnut, a Vietnam veteran, said watching all of the students pack the care packages meant a lot to him, especially as someone who used to receive them during his time serving. 

“It’s a great feeling to know that somebody, somewhere, cares,” Chesnut said. “A little extra care package goes a long way.”