FUQUAY-VARINA -- Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Rausch knows the value of a care package.
The veteran, who lives in Fuquay-Varina, lived in a combat outpost for 15 months while serving two deployments in Iraq. He knows what it's like to see a friend killed by a hand grenade, knows how it feels to be too close to an explosion, and he knows the deep relief and gratitude a pair of new socks can bring.
On the front lines, soldiers can't shower, can't do laundry, and are often cut off from the basic necessities included in packages from home, said Rausch, 34.
"You have a lot of combat units not at a big base, and they never make it to them," said Rausch, who says he suffers from traumatic brain injury, lung damage and combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. "We'd be out on missions for two weeks going from house to house ... socks start rotting and basically fall off your feet."
Soon, more than 300 care packages will reach servicemen on the front lines with the help of Military Missions in Action, a nonprofit based in Fuquay-Varina that supports retired and current military members with care packages and housing assistance.
About 50 people turned out for the group's Pack 'n' Ship event Saturday to assemble care packages filled with socks, food, books, DVDs and toiletries. A filled trolley car delivered hundreds of bags of supplies collected last month by the group and Becky Medlin Realty in Fuquay-Varina. Volunteers sifted, sorted and packed boxes, which will be sent to about 30 stations overseas and distributed.
"We want to make sure the packages are getting to the front lines," said Mike Dorman, a Coast Guard veteran who founded Military Missions in Action in 2008. "For every trigger-puller there are eight behind them, supporting them."
The group has several programs to support current service members and veterans, including Operation Building Hope, which provides home repairs and modifications so veterans can live independently, and Operation Warrior Golf, which provides golf lessons to veterans with disabilities.
The group has shipped 7,500 boxes over the last three years. Dorman said he felt the need for another package push after receiving an e-mail from a soldier in Afghanistan who said the number of care packages sent to troops has dropped 40 percent since the height of the war.
"I didn't think it was right for their parents to be the sole caregivers for their soldiers," he said. "As a vet, I wanted to do something different, I wanted to give back."
When Kelly Smith starts to talk about her son, 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Shawn Willey, tears fill her eyes. Willey left for the Middle East in January and travels on missions daily. Care packages mean a lot to him; they're always a bright spot, she said.
"He was so excited when he got the boxes that day, he said it was the best thing that happened to him that week," said Smith, who lives in Fuquay-Varina.
In the midst of so much that needs to be done to better serve veterans, the packages are really a drop in the bucket, Dorman said. But they're a start, and a vehicle for families back home have an impact and show their thanks.
"I go to Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center], and I see the wounded, but I leave and always, always feel like I need to do more," said Deidra Powell of Youngsville, who has twin sons in the Marine Corps. "Once my twins joined, it just became a part of who I am."
Rausch says he's discouraged that some have forgotten about the needs of those who continue to sacrifice.
"Nobody thinks about it anymore," he said. "It's not actually what's going on anymore; that's not the news," he said.
Small things such as socks, beef jerky and baby wipes, along with letters from home and cards from students always made Rausch feel more connected and re-energized.
"It just helps," he said. "It takes your mind off stuff; it's refreshing to get stuff you can clean yourself with."
