Elizabeth Conley / the Detroit News

Mary Ann Merritt

Making a difference one package at a time

Military troops serving around the world have come to know they can rely on Mary Ann Merritt.

The former Marine has been averaging about 200 care packages filled with items such as energy bars, baby wipes, books and personal hygiene items sent out monthly to servicemen and women serving in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The year-round effort by the Bruce Township grandmother has included special shipments of Christmas stockings; coffee urn and mugs; and even a "girls' night out" package with body lotions and foot creams.

"You can always turn to someone who is in the Marine Corps. It is part of me," says Merritt, 49, who is a journeyman pipe fitter at the General Motors Lake Orion plant.

It has been nearly three decades since Merritt joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Sterling Heights High School, but she has never stopped living the U.S. Marine Corps motto of "Semper Fidelis," which is Latin for "always faithful."

A longtime volunteer at the Veterans Administration Hospital and with the Region 1 UAW Veterans Council, she began her recent effort after a friend told her about a young man who was not receiving any packages.

"From that one name, we got more names. I began to think that they were writing my name on the head walls," she says.

In the first year of sending packages, she estimated she spent $5,000 out of her own pocket in shipping costs. After word of her efforts spread, local organizations began hosting fundraisers and packing parties through an initiative called Operation Caring Friends.

"I thought of (soldiers) being so far from home and not having the support that they need," Merritt says. "No matter what, half the battle is morale. If we can make somebody's day and make some one smile, it would be worth it."

Merritt has received hundreds of letters of thanks, unique items such as the old Iraqi currencies and an Iraqi flag signed by a unit and another flag that flew over Camp Fallujah on Veterans Day.

"When you get those letters back, and they thank you and said how great it was to get a package from someone they didn't know or that it was the first package they had gotten, how do you stop," Merritt says. "If I've got to have an addiction, it might as well be one like this."

The large volume of packages sent overseas has required Romeo Postmaster Alex Stubbs to reschedule some of his staff to process Merritt's items and not affect other customers waiting to send items.

"We work behind the scenes with her," says Stubbs, who is providing packing boxes and tape for the Flat Rate Priority Mail Service to send the maximum amount of items for a minimum price. "She has nothing but support from this community."

And while it does not appear that hostilities overseas will end soon, Merritt states that her efforts to help others will continue.

"I think volunteerism is a lifelong endeavor," Merritt adds. "It is something that is ongoing. If I didn't have to work, I would just do volunteer work. It is a good feeling that you have done something for someone else."

Edward L. Cardenas