Carrie Young

The mother of a local soldier is spearheading an effort to show appreciation to the country's deployed troops.

Hero's Angels, an organization based in Chicora that sends care packages to American soldiers, and the Five Below store at Butler Crossing have teamed up to gather donations and deliver them to deployed members of the U.S. armed services.

Carrie Young, the founder of Hero's Angels, said she started the organization in August 2016, after her son joined the military.

“My son Damion graduated from high school, and less than a month later, he left for basic training,” she said. “Family, friends and members of our community donated items to be sent to him in care packages.

“The response was overwhelming. We received so many donated items to send, so we began to send care packages to others in his training company.”

A few months later, Young and her organization began reaching out to local businesses and members of the community to sponsor care packages.

“We had great success in this and decided to continue this as a monthly program,” she said.

Five Below got involved when Young stopped by the store in August and distributed informational handouts on Hero's Angels.

“Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by the store,” Young said. “They were interested in partnering with us and collecting items purchased from their store to be sent to our troops.”

Since the joint effort with Five Below began about a month ago, the results have been heartening. Young recently picked up the first batch of donations and described the support as “amazing.”

Items that have been donated so far include toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, brushes, mouthwash, shampoo, soap, playing cards, pens, Sudoku books and snacks. Five Below also has donated 100 cooling towels to the effort.

“Carrie has really been a blessing to everyone here,” said Tech. Sgt. Mike McFadden, who receives and distributes her shipments.

McFadden, who was raised in Eau Claire and attended Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School, has served with the Air Force Reserves for more than nine years. He is currently on his second deployment overseas.

“Being in a remote location, there isn't much here as far as snacks and toiletries, so we rely heavily on when mail comes in to receive those kinds of items.”

Shannon Slagle, the assistant manager of Five Below, said the store will accept donations on a continual basis.

Hero's Angels also will continue to accept donations at its drop-off locations. Those include Digital Technologies at the Greater Butler Mart, Show Sensation at Clearview Mall, and Randy & Bob's Auto Body in Chicora.

Since the sponsored care package program began in November 2016, Young says Hero's Angels has sent 1,375 gifts to deployed troops.