In honor of Veterans Day, the Mission Beach Women’s Club is asking locals to donate to its 15th annual S.O.S. (Support Our Servicewomen) Campaign so the club can send care packages to women deployed overseas.
Community members can support this project by donating cash to cover shipping costs or purchasing items for the care packages. This includes blankets, books, puzzles, games, cards and other items to remind the women of home.
Also wanted are notes thanking the military women for their service.
Mission Beach Women’s Club members after filling S.O.S. Campaign care packages. (Courtesy of Nancy Person)Club members Sarah Mattinson-Archond and Nancy Person are the philanthropy project’s co-chairs. Assisted by 28 women on their committee, they organize and plan the campaign.
Mattinson-Archond has been involved with the club since 2006.
“I own a cafe (Olive Baking Company), and that’s why I joined the Women’s Club, because it was right down the street from me,” she said. “I just wanted to be involved in the community. I always feel like our cafe is in the middle of Mission Beach, and so I definitely wanted to be as involved as possible.”
Since its inception, she has helped lead the S.O.S. Campaign.
“I helped start it because we had a serviceman that was on our street that was deployed for the third time, and I was walking into a meeting and was like, ‘What can we do, you know, to help their spirits?’” she said. “So we started (the care packages) with servicemen in the beginning, and then switched to servicewomen because we found there was a big need for that. A lot of care packages are geared toward men. And so when we heard that need, we switched to all (packages for) servicewomen.”
Person, who is Mattinson-Archond’s neighbor and close friend, said when she heard about S.O.S., it influenced her to join the club. Since 2012, she has served as Mattinson-Archond’s co-chair.
“I feel community service and helping veterans and active duty families is super important,” Person said. “I mean, I love being able to help people; that is what brings me the most satisfaction.”
While the S.O.S. Committee organizes the fundraiser and spends its November meeting filling care packages with other club members, it also works with military chaplains to get the packages distributed.
Cup holders to be added to S.O.S. Campaign care packages. (Courtesy of Nancy Person)“They go all over the world,” Person said. “We are not really told (specific locations) because of security, but we do know that we are shipping to the USS Abraham Lincoln this year. A whole group of women from Miramar are on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and we’re shipping 20 boxes to this one specific avionics group. So that’s kind of exciting.”
Person also said if someone knows a local servicewoman who is overseas and will continue to be overseas after Nov. 11, they can request to have a box sent to her.
“We did receive feedback from women, and they wrote us notes saying that our packages sometimes were the only package they received when they were deployed, and they couldn’t have been more appreciative that we took care to send really homey things,” Person said. “And we actually spoke to some of them when they returned.”
According to Person and Mattinson-Archond, some of the women shared that receiving tampons was particularly helpful, as they were limited to a certain amount each month when deployed.
“We just thought, you know what? There is this big need, and we’re a women’s club, so that’s kind of how we shifted (to making packages for women), because most of the packages are very generic that go to the military, theyre not at all thought of for women,” Person said.
Mattinson-Archond said after she heard these care packages are sometimes the only one a deployed woman might receive, she realized how meaningful this project is.
“Were very lucky to be living in the United States and feel safe,” Mattinson-Archond said. “I feel like theres a lot of people that forget how many people are overseas, you know, protecting us and supporting the United States. So I really want to try to support them in any way we can.”
A filled S.O.S. Campaign care package. (Courtesy of Nancy Person)Person said they both have connections to the military, as her father, husband and Mattinson-Archond’s father are veterans.
Mattinson-Archond said the legacy of her original co-chair and close friend Maruta Gardner, who was killed by an impaired driver while she was removing graffiti from the Mission Beach jetty wall in 2016, is especially important to her as she continues this annual project.
While Person and Mattinson-Archond do not know yet how many boxes the club will send nor the shipping costs for this year, they want to exceed last year’s 266 care packages, according to Person.
Shipping costs are estimated to be around $6,000 annually.
The club is still accepting donations until Nov. 10. Mattinson-Archond said small games, adult coloring books, fuzzy socks, protein bars and holiday decorations are some items they want to include. For easy purchasing and ideas, the club encourages people to visit its Amazon gift list MBWC-SOS 2024. Money can be donated on the club’s website, mbwc.org. All of the club’s philanthropy is run through its nonprofit foundation, according to Person.
Packages will be filled at the Nov. 11 meeting.
“Many members say that our November meeting is their most favorite meeting of the year, because of S.O.S., because of being involved in making a difference and showing our appreciation to service women,” Person said.
Want to help?
MBWC’s S.O.S. Campaign
• To donate money, visit mbwc.org.
• To donate items, see Amazon gift list MBWC-SOS 2024 for ideas. If buying on Amazon, items can be shipped directly to the club, but must be delivered by Nov. 8.
• To drop off items or notes in person, bring by Nov. 10 to Olive Baking Company, 735 Santa Clara Place in Mission Beach. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.