Operation Iraqi Children

In March of 2004, actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) announced the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that enables Americans to send school supply kits and other necessities to Iraqi children.  Today, we serve not only Iraq's children, but children in other nations served by American troops, such as Afghanistan and Djibouti. 

The Need. During and after Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages were horrified at the squalor of Iraqi schools, which had been severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Corralled in sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets, Iraqi students lack even the rudimentary supplies that American children take for granted. Libraries and books are almost nonexistent. Without these basic tools of education, Iraqi children face an uphill struggle to learn. "Imagine sending your child to a school in which there are virtually no books, no pencils, no paper, no blackboards," says Hillenbrand. "This is the reality for Iraqi children. The future of the Iraqi nation is being squandered for lack of basic school supplies."

Moved by the plight of these children, many American soldiers have taken it upon themselves to help. Working in small groups on their days off, soldiers gather supplies sent by family members, friends, and various groups and take them to villages, sometimes coming under fire as they work to reconstruct the schools and deliver learning tools to Iraqi kids. Their efforts have met with immense gratitude from local Iraqis and their children, who now have access to the basic tools of education for the first time in their lives. "I have seen Iraqi kids climbing on our soldiers and hugging them and kissing them," remembers Sinise, who accompanied Army soldiers to a dilapidated school they were rebuilding. "I have seen their smiling faces and their attempts to say 'I love you' in broken English. The folks I saw had hope in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts for what was done for them."

Unfortunately, the need for help is so great and widespread, encompassing some 1,500 schools, that our soldiers' efforts cannot possibly answer the entire problem. The situation is critical. "The future of Iraq lies in the education of its children," says Hillenbrand. "We owe it to them, and to the hundreds of American men and women who gave their lives to bring them freedom, to give these children the basic tools of learning."

During Gary Sinise's recent USO visit to Afghanistan and Iraq, he heard from a number of troops who described the same kind of situation afflicting children in Afghanistan and the east African nation of Djibouti, both of which are served by American troops.  And again, the troops were eager to help, but had few resources to provide.  Something had to be done.

The Answer. Inspired by their conversations with soldiers as well as Sinise's tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, Sinise and Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children, a grass roots program to provide concerned Americans with a means to reach out to Iraqi kids and help support our soldiers' efforts to assist the Iraqi people.  Since then, Sinise and Hillenbrand have expanded their program to include children in other nations, such as Afghanistan and Djibouti, served by American troops.

Through the OIC program, you can either make a simple monetary donation, one hundred percent of which will go to purchase supplies for children and offset shipping costs, or organize a school supply drive in your family, school, church or other community organization, assembling items in kits according to our instructions, then sending them to the OIC warehouse.  From there, the vast majority of kits are shipped to Iraq, but some are sent to equally needy areas served by American troops, including Afghanistan and Djibouti.  Once they arrive, our shipments are taken by troops and distributed to children.

Sinise, Hillenbrand and the organizers of Operation Iraqi Children believe that the benefits of this program will reach far beyond the recipients of the supplies. By bringing Americans and Iraqis together and demonstrating American devotion to the welfare of the Iraqi people, the program can foster understanding between our nations and generate goodwill between Iraqis and American soldiers. "Every time a box of school supplies is delivered by our troops it will be another small victory for them in helping win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise. "It is a beautiful way to begin a relationship with the future leaders of Iraq. They have been forgotten for so long. Now there is a chance for them."