Mass Maritime Cookie Cafe
October 29, 2015 |
Margie Soobitsky attended the Mass Maritime Cookie Cafe, here is her wonderful story:
I wish you all could have joined me at Mass Maritime. The volunteers worked hard all day, unpacking the cookies. They certainly have an appreciation for all of the Cookie Cafe volunteers who do this every week at KP. They all kept asking me "they really do this every week and people bake every week?"
When I first arrived in the morning I was welcomed with open arms. They said they were so touched by the notes that were included in with some of the cookies. There were several parents, including myself, in tears. They just could not believe what USMMA families had done for them.
I was honored to represent USMMA parents. Several of the regimental officers stopped by to thank me. In addition the president, Rear Admiral McDonald, stopped by to thank all of the USMMA families for their generosity and kindness. Captain Bushy also wanted to thank us for what we have done for their cadets and he heard we had also done this for Maine. He mentioned he wrote a letter to MARAD letting them know how USMMA has been supporting all of the academies because of this tragedy and how it's bringing us all together. So many of the faculty members came by to also thank all of us at USMMA. They could not believe how many people took the time to bake and ship all of the cookies and goodies.
But what I enjoyed the most was seeing the cadets when they saw all of the cookies. They were all so thankful for what we did for them. I should have written down some of the comments they were saying. One cadet said "this is the best day of my life."
I wish I was better at writing to really give you a better idea of the love and appreciation I felt at Mass Maritime. As the volunteers were leaving their shifts, we were hugging each other good-bye and a few tears were shed again. They were just overwhelmed by what the USMMA families did for them and their cadets.
A simple gesture of baking cookies has really made a difference and I feel it created a special bond among all of the academies. It's sad that it took a tragedy for this to happen, but this tragedy brought us all closer together.
Thank you to Monica Waterbury who had the original idea of doing this to show our support. I was fortunate to have contacts at both Mass and Maine Maritime. Thank you to Leslie Hart who does what she does best and that's to get the volunteers to bake. She has done an amazing job getting the volunteers and making sure we have enough cookies for all. She been a great partner to get this organized. The people I need to thank the most are all of the families and friends who have been baking non-stop and those contributing to support this effort.
We have one more academy to show our support. I'm working with Martha McCann and Lisa Pino to see who we can contact at SUNY and host one more Cookie Cafe. Lastly we do want to show our support for our own USMMA alumni, Steve Shultz, who sadly was on El Faro. That is still in the works.
Thanks,
Margie
| Abel, Melanie | Tucson, AZ | 29 | Lee, Tammy | Upton, MA | 10 |
| Adams, Cindy | 5 | Mason, Sana | Sugar Hill, GA | 8 | |
| Balsamo, Theresa | 7 | McCann, Martha | New Rochelle, NY | 10 | |
| Brooks, Kristi | Logan, OH | 10 | McKeever, Kevin | Middletown, NJ | 35 |
| Burrell, Kerri | Sanford, NC/Uledi, PA | 8 | Mullins, Annette | Houston, TX | 22 |
| Calhoun, Paige | Manchester, CT | 5 | North Texas Parent Assoc | TX | 24 |
| Campana, Joanne | New Orleans, LA | Olinger, Kristina | 16 | ||
| Carpenter, Jane | Bainbridge Island, WA | Pedersen, Brenda | |||
| Carroll, Debbie | Phillips, Jeanne | 16 | |||
| Castell, Tina | Cumming, GA | 21 | Price, Karen | 10 | |
| Davenport, Laurie | MI | 15 | Probst, Ramona | CA | 10 |
| Davis, Kristin | 5 | Reishus, Jana | 30 | ||
| Dolby, Yolanda | Las Vegas, NY | 10 | Slade, Janet | 10 | |
| Earnest, Chris | CA | 35 | Slezak, Louise | Middle River, MD | 10 |
| Franz, Kristin | Miami, FL | 10 | Soobitsky, Margie | Higganum, CT | 35 |
| George, Kimberley | Wadsworth, OH | 10 | Strand, Ann | 6 | |
| Gioino, Maria | Knowlton, NJ | 10 | Sudkamp, Laura | Frankfort, KY | 26 |
| Grignon, Jaci | 10 | Sweeney, Jeanne | 11 | ||
| Halm, Michelle | GA | 10 | Tanttari, Cyndee | 10 | |
| Harrison, Nancy | Alexandria, VA | 5 | Testa, Dawn | 6 | |
| Hart, Janine | Chicago, IL | 10 | Tomasovic, Denise | Butler, PA | 20 |
| Hart, Leslie | Quarryville, PA | 15 | Treat, Kim | 10 | |
| Hodgkinson, Stacy | 2 | Waterbury, Monica | VA | 15 | |
| Justi, Ro | 10 | Wesely, Lisa | 11 | ||
| Kay, Jeannie | Lake Mohawk, NJ | DuBois, Susan | 6 | ||
| Knudsen, Colette | Duluth, MN | 6 | Harris, Kathy |