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Candy sits layed out in front of St. Jude Thaddeus School eighth-graders Dylan Kuhn, left, and Ezekiel Antonich as they begin to pack it into boxes Friday. The candy was sent Friday afternoon to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
A box of letters and coloring sheets are addressed to the 41 soldiers of the 495th CSSB at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan Friday in Havre. St. Jude Thaddeus School teacher Carly Brunk estimates the school is shipping about 200 letters to the troops along with boxes of Halloween candy.
Eighth-grader Ezekiel Antonich pushes down the last box of candy before adding newspaper and sealing it shut Friday in Havre in preparation for shipping it to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Teacher Carly Bunk's eighth-grade English class took on the responsibility of organizing, packing and shipping the candy.
St. JudeThaddeus School eighth-grade teacher Carly Brunk, right, helps her English class finish packing four boxes of candy Friday in Havre before taking them to be mailed to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
St. Jude Thaddeus School eighth-grade student Catharina Kaftan stands still with a box of Halloween candy while her English teacher, Carly Brunk, helps weigh the load Friday in Havre. All together, the students, teachers and parishioners of St. Judes collected 76.4 pounds of candy to ship to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The idea came to her the day after Halloween, Kathryn Tilleman, development director at St. Jude Thaddeus School said. She was listening to "Wake Up Montana" during her morning routine Nov. 1 when she heard a story that covered people sending candy to American troops overseas.
The story struck a chord with Tilleman, so she brought the idea to St. Jude's eighth-grade teacher Carly Brunk, whose son, Sgt. Clay Nottingham, deployed to Afghanistan in May.
"Plus, my brother was in the Navy for 20 years, so it really hits close to home," Tilleman said.
Before long, Tilleman and Brunk had full support of the school and the church, and they began collecting leftover Halloween candy to be sent to Bunk's son at Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.
Friday, after gathering candy from students, faculty and parishioners at the church, Brunk's eighth-grade English class packed 76.4 pounds of sweets into boxes and prepared them to be shipped off to Afghanistan.
"We were so impressed by parishioners who brought candy," Brunk said, adding that she was grateful for the generosity of everyone who donated.
Along with the candy, every student in the school wrote a personal letter to one of the 41 servicemen in the Montana Army National Guard's 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. Brunk estimates they are sending around 200 letters to her son's unit.
Five large boxes - four with candy, one with letters - were shipping off from Havre to Afghanistan Friday afternoon and are expected to arrive in eight to 10 days.
They said they are so enthusiastic about what they are doing for the troops, Tilleman and Brunk are already plotting another special shipment for the holiday season in December in hopes to share a little bit of home with Nottingham and all of his fellow service members.
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