Thursday March 2, 2006

Tier Soldier keeps helping Iraqi Youth
Owego man helps put fun back in their lives

                      Photo courtesy of PFC. JUSTIN DONNELLY

Some of these Iraqi children will be helped by Pfc. Justin Donnelly of
Owego, who sends them donated soccer equipment from the Southern Tier.

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  By Debbie Swartz
Press & Sun-Bulletin 

OWEGO - Helping just one Iraqi child is not enough for Owego native
Pfc. Justin Donnelly.  In December,he played a pivotal role in saving
the life of Noor al-Zahra, known as Baby Noor, who was born with a
life-threatening form of spina bifida.  Now the Army medic, stationed
at Camp Liberty in Iraq, is trying to give poor Iraqi children the gift
of fun in the form of soccer equipment.  "They love playing soccer,
and to my surprise are very good at it," Donnelly said via e-mail. "We
sit on bridges and watch our sector, and they come up to us and ask for
soccer balls. We take a few out that we personally buy ... but there are
always more and more kids."  Soccer equipment - including more than 100
balls, team shirts and air pumps - will leave Owego today on a journey
to Iraq. The endeavor took the effort of Donnelly's family, including
his parents Valerie and James Donnelly; members of the Blessed Trinity
& Saint Patrick Parish in Tioga County; Scott Craig, vice president
of the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex Youth Soccer Development
Program; and Wes Wilkert, coach of the Hiawatha Stingers soccer team.
Craig said he worked with Jim Raftis, a member of Blessed Trinity's
"Support our Troops" initiative, to start the project. A tournament
on Feb. 18-19 for the Hiawatha Soccer Club brought out many donors
from area teams, Craig said.  It's important, he said, to give Iraqi
children something to focus on other than the chaos in their lives.
"It'll give these kids a way out," he said.  When Donnelly's request
for soccer equipment became known, Hiawatha Coach Wes Wilkert said,
the generosity of players ages 6 to 18 and their parents came through.
"It just shows that the community supports a good cause," he said.
Donnelly said the children he sees are often very poor and lack shoes
and clean clothes. "If you could only see the faces these children make
when we give them a soccer ball," he said. "It's like we just made their
whole day better."  Craig said he's working on another collection for
a future tournament. This time, he hopes to collect used soccer shoes.
Donnelly said gifts such as the soccer equipment will help break down the
walls that exist been many Iraqis and American soldiers. He said the image
of Americans as "greedy, self-centered people" has been ingrained in the
minds of Iraqis at a very early age. Changing that perception, he said,
is an important part of his job.  "I guess the hardest part of this war
is the barriers that the people have put up between us and themselves,"
he said. "The way I see it, if we can display this act of generosity to
them, then they will be more willing to accept us and help us."