Senator Jerry Hill thanks seniors at South San Francisco’s Magnolia Senior Center for crafting hundreds of valentines for soldiers abroad
California Army National Guard soldiers in Afghanistan will soon receive 600 handmade valentines from senior citizens who put the finishing touches on their handicrafts last Friday with help from state Senator Jerry Hill.
For a sixth consecutive year, seniors at the South San Francisco Magnolia Senior Center partnered with Hill on the crafts project that annually sends hundreds of handmade valentines to either troops stationed abroad or local veterans.
Army 2nd Lieutenant Dale Shepherd and Staff Sergeant Gary Lee, both of Bravo Company, 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion from Mountain View, lend a hand to the seniors making valentines for 300 California Army National Guard soldiers from California who have been deployed in Afghanistan
“These mean so much to us,” said Army 2nd LieutenantDale Shepherd of Bravo Company, 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion from Mountain View, who thanked the seniors on behalf of the 300 soldiers from the California units receiving the valentines this year.
“It is such an honor to be part of a project that brings so much joy to hundreds of men and women in uniform who are serving our country far from home and their families on Valentine’s Day,” said Hill, who served as a staff sergeant in California Army National Guard from 1966 to 1972.
“This is one of our favorites,” Magnolia Center Program Coordinator Laura Gigi said of the annual activity.
Sergeant 1st Class Rebecca Wolkenhauer of the California National Guard joins South San Francisco seniors as they put the finishing touches on some of the 600 handmade valentines they’ve crafted for California soldiers deployed in Afghanistan
“Magnolia seniors are proud of and grateful to oursoldiers. The valentines are our seniors’ way of saying ‘Thank you, we miss you, respect you and love you for your service.’ ”
The members of the California Army National Guard units receiving valentines from the South San Francisco seniors include:
● 30 soldiers attached to Bravo Company, 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion from Mountain View, which was mobilized to Afghanistan in July 2013
● 170 attached to the 1113th Transportation Company from San Jose, which was mobilized to Afghanistan in May 2013
● 100 attached to the 216th Engineer Mobility Augmentation Company of Long Beach, which was mobilized in June 2013
Joining Shepherd at the senior center were Staff Sergeant Gary Lee, also with Bravo Company, 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion; Sergeant 1st Class (CA) Rebecca Wolkenhauer of the California National Guard Governmental Affairs Office in Sacramento; and Staff Sergeant Salli Curchin with the Guard’s Community Relations Office in Sacramento. To the delight of the seniors, the soldiers also lent a hand at the crafts tables and made valentines during their visit.
The seniors at South San Francisco program their annual valentines project with Hill to benefit soldiers and veterans in 2009, when Hill was a state assemblyman.
Representatives of the South San Francisco’s Magnolia Senior Center and Senator Jerry Hill present 600 handmade valentines for 300 California Army National Guard soldiers in Afghanistan on February 7, 2014, in South San Francisco. From left, Dolores Martinez, Senator Jerry Hill, Diane Zellmer, South San Francisco Recreation Supervisor Joe Hunziker, Toni Edwards, Army 2nd Lieutenant Dale Shepherd and Staff Sergeant Gary Lee, both of Bravo Company, 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion from Mountain View. The Mountain View unit, along with units from San Jose and Long Beach, are receiving the valentines as part of the South San Francisco seniors’ 6th annual valentines project for soldiers and veterans with Hill