An Arnold businessman who started Cookies for Our Troops thought the need for his group might finally be over.
Sam Lombardo said that, unfortunately, he recently realized he was wrong.
“I believed the president that we'd be out (soon),” said Lombardo, the founder of Cookies for Our Troops, about President Obama's hopes to have full withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I figured 13 years, how wonderful a run we had. But we're not out, and there are still men and women over there,” he said. “The numbers aren't dwindling; they're growing.”
Lombardo said he'd been expecting to wind down the group's operations as more and more troops came home, but with the United States' return to Iraq to fight the so-called Islamic State, Cookies for Our Troops will be as active as ever.
“We haven't really collected anything for a year,” he said.
Now, Lombardo fears his group may not be able to send the quantity and quality of gifts that it did previously because of a lack of funds.
“Postage has doubled,” Lombardo said. “What once cost 18 to 20 cents is now 47 to 60 cents.”
“I don't know how long the money's going to last,” he said. “We used to pay the lowest amount the post office allowed, but they got rid of the cheaper rate.”
Cookies for Our Troops does more than just send men and women overseas tasty desserts. According to Lombardo, the group has spent more than $300,000 over the past 13 years.
The group has sent things as small as squirt guns and knitted helmet liners to as large as popcorn machines and a deep fryer.
“One year we sent a pizza oven over with all the ingredients,” Lombardo said with a chuckle. “They had a pizza party. They were even trading pizzas with other units.
“It was the only pizza oven in Afghanistan.”
For the organization, the money crunch comes as it prepares for one of its more important times of the year, the Christmas season.
Every year, Lombardo sends Christmas trees and handmade stockings to the troops.
“We've probably sent about 30 Christmas trees with ornaments and lights,” he said.
Lombardo said he has a donor list and he annually sends donation pleas to the few people on it but, to keep operating, the organization needs new donors.
“The only reason I'd quit is because we have everyone home,” he said. “But I can't pay for this all out of pocket. We need the community to come through like they have for almost 14 years.”
R.A. Monti is a freelance reporter for Trib Total Media.
