My financial advisor is a wonderful gentleman from Guilford named Tom Genera, whose business is Eagle Strategies Corporation. In conversation one day, he mentioned that he’d heard about a woman from Deep River who was sending homemade cookies to active military personnel and veterans abroad and at home. In typical Tom fashion, he said, “I’m not quite sure how she’s doing that.”

Since my curiosity is almost as big as my sweet tooth, I decided to find out. Following my nose led me to Debbie Schaefer, an unassuming mom from Deep River who came to the conclusion that fear can be a constructive motivator and that doing something – anything – is better than doing nothing. In fact, she tells her story this way:

I have two sons in the military. One of them was sent to Afghanistan. The other could be sent to Iraq. We’re small-town folk from Deep River, Connecticut. We don’t think about places like Afghanistan and Iraq. We think about places like Chester, Winthrop, and home. The shock of my son’s deployment was followed by fear, some anger, and a feeling of helplessness. But we small-town folk never forget our single biggest strength: the power to make choices. In this case, we had the choice to do nothing – or to make a difference in a very big, very scary world. So, we got busy.

We soon discovered we had more friends than we ever dreamed of. We learned there are lots of families like ours in our community. We learned that our community can grow every time you do a kind deed, every time you extend your hand to another, every time you need help and have the courage to ask for it.

The Connecticut Cookie Platoon is an extension of our growing community. It represents the work of a growing army of bakers, packers, shippers, helpers, sponsors, old friends, new friends every day, and more caring people than we ever thought we could meet. It humbles me to know that one idea could be so contagious. It makes me grateful to know that one choice could teach me so much about the world I thought I couldn’t change.

The Connecticut Cookie Platoon is changing the world one soldier, one caring volunteer, one cookie at a time. If you’d like to join our growing community, please send me an e-mail or call me. Every helping hand is welcome.

Once we got a whiff of what Debbie was cooking – and knowing she was right – we decided to do something. Since no one would eat anything I baked, we settled for the next best thing: we donated a website, which we will continue to host and maintain for as long as Debbie needs it. And considering Debbie’s determination to make the world a sweeter place, that could be a very long time.

Along the way, Debbie discovered (although, she’s too modest to admit it) that she has the ability to organize, motivate, and inspire people. With no budget, she’s marketed the Connecticut Cookie Platoon to volunteers, private contributors, and corporate donors. She’s put our troops first and herself last. And she’s made military people at the farthest reaches of the globe feel loved and at home, at least for a little while. The letters posted to her website attest to that.

If you don’t believe you have the power to change the world, contact Debbie through the website. She’ll soon have you convinced that power resides in the simplest of things, in the kindest of acts. She’ll soon have you understanding that you have more power than you can imagine, that differences are made one small gesture at a time, and that the sweetest things in the world can change it.

Is that possible? It is along the shoreline. We’re all about helping hands. That’s why Tom’s, Debbie’s, and mine came to be joined.

No related posts.