Since September, a kindergarten class of 10 students from the Covina Development Center have been sending care packages, candy, art work and photos to Capt. Anthony Scerri and his Army reserve unit in Kuwait.
On Friday, the class received a nice surprise of their own – a package from the 349th Combat Support Hospital filled with coffee for teachers and toys and candy for the boys and girls.
"They talk about Anthony all the time," teacher Donna Moore of La Verne said. "When the kids get packages, they get real excited."
Especially excited was Scerri’s 21-year-old daughter Chelsea, who is a teacher’s aide at the school.
"He loves it. They love support from kids and know they’re still cared about," the Downey resident said. "I feel so attached to this school because they took my dad under their wing."
In the Army for 24 years, Scerri, 54, and his 200-member unit were deployed to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait in August. They began their training at Fort Hood Texas in June.
The Bell-based unit’s mission is to provide in-patient and outpatient medical services to injured soldiers and civilians.
Chelsea and Moore, who had been donating candy to soldiers for the past four years, arranged for the students to begin directly corresponding with Scerri.
"It’s really helped as a history lesson," Moore said. "Kids nowadays don’t show respect and this is a way to show respect for the people who are helping us. It’s about helping others. It’s a motivator."
The class has sent the unit 22 pounds of Halloween candy, posters and are currently working on creating a Christmas DVD using class photos. Scerri and his unit, in turn, have mailed back Army t-shirts.
"They wear the shirts and tell me, `I want to be just like your dad someday,"’ Chelsea said.
to the class two days before leaving for Kuwait, Scerri said he would cherish their gifts.
"I am so happy that your class will be keeping in touch with me throughout my deployment," Scerri wrote in the Aug. 8 letter. "I will be hanging up all the pictures, letters, and artwork that you guys send to me in the hospital for ALL of the soldiers to see and enjoy."
"We love all the support, especially from you children," Scerri continued. "It is a daily reminder of why we are here, away from our families, protecting the freedom and future of America."
Moore said the class will continue to sponsor the unit until May, when they are expected to return and visit the pre-school students in time for their graduation ceremony.
In a letter written
