Local Vermont Woman Sends Care Packages to Troops

STAMFORD, Vt. — Military mom Patricia Erdeski has teamed up with Wayne Soares of North Adams, Mass., to send 15 "Boxes of Love" to troops at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany.

Erdeski is a proud Army mother, however, her support goes beyond her own family.

Over the past three years, she has sent more than 530 Boxes of Love that contain treats and military necessities to troops all over the world.

She said it started with supplying her son, Arich Erdeski, with things any loving mother would provide.

"Arich was in Afghanistan so I started sending him boxes with mom-type things in them. I was a nut and was just sending him boxes and boxes," Erdeski said. "Eventually he told me to stop sending him boxes but send some to his buddies because they weren't getting anything ... so I got some of their names."

Erdeski quickly became the mom of many because she knew exactly what military personal needed. The boxes contain essentials — beef jerky, socks, small winter hats that fit under helmets, shampoo, soap, deodorant, baby wipes, hand-held food, and plastic bags that are a necessity if you want to keep sand out of your clean underwear.

After she created a Web presence, other military parents asked her to send their children boxes and others donated money to support the effort. Businesses and establishments such as the Adams (Mass.) Community Bank and the North Adams post office left donation boxes out so anyone could support overseas troops.

"The community is wonderful and we have an extremely generous community," Erdeski said. "They are sending me checks, and I am not a corporation I am just Patty Erdeski and I have strangers sending me checks."

Erdeski said the boxes this Christmas are a little more special and more festive.

"I wrapped the boxes with wrapping paper, and I bought Santa hats and little Santas just so when they open it, it is festive," she said. "They get so excited when they open the boxes, and it doesn't matter what is in them — somebody from home thought of them."

Soares, an actor, comedian, entertainer, and professional emcee, got involved by coincidence. After getting word of Erdeski's project, he offered to take some boxes over to Germany, where he was performing a holiday comedy show for the troops.

"I have a lot of passion for the troops and a lot of pride," Soares said. "I thought my job is to bring laughter and smiles and if we can bring some boxes of love to the men and women to let them know they are appreciated then why not."

Erdeski agreed.

"I want to give them something from home that they may have not seen in months and let them know they aren't forgotten," she said. "I want them to know they aren't just on the news and someone else's child and while they have our backs we have theirs."

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.