BATAVIA, Ohio — The Clermont County Public Library has launched its annual Holiday Giving Program, collecting personal care and entertainment items through Dec. 2 to be packed into care packages for U.S. troops serving overseas.
This year’s drive partners the library system with the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, the Clermont County nonprofit that ships the packages to deployed service members, the library said in a Facebook post. All 10 library branches across the county are accepting donations during normal operating hours through Dec. 2, and a list of requested items is posted to the library’s Facebook page.
The Yellow Ribbon Support Center was founded in 2004 by Batavia residents Keith and Carolyn Maupin after their son, Army Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, went missing when his convoy was ambushed in Iraq, becoming the first American service member reported missing in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Maupins began mailing care packages bearing their son’s photo to troops overseas, hoping other service members would recognize him and help bring him home. Matt Maupin’s remains were recovered and identified in 2008, and Interstate 275 through Clermont County was later renamed the Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin Memorial Freeway in his honor.
Rather than end the effort after Matt Maupin’s remains were returned, the family and the community that had rallied around them continued it. The Yellow Ribbon Support Center now operates as a nonprofit that sends care packages and raises money for scholarships in memory of fallen service members, saying its mission is “to support the men and women serving in harm’s way, to remember those who did not walk off the plane and to educate and raise awareness about our troops.” The organization has awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships to date, according to its website.
The library’s Holiday Giving Program is an annual tradition at the system’s 10 branches, which serve communities including Amelia, Batavia, Bethel, Felicity, Goshen, Milford, New Richmond, Owensville, Union Township and Williamsburg.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont County Public Library.