9-year-old leads mission to help soldiers overseas

“Operation: Holiday Cheer” is in its third successful year at The Vindicator, making sure small gifts and much appreciation make their way to Valley military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Vindy.com now and in The Vindicator’s Thanksgiving Day edition, you will find names and addresses of more than 75 Valley natives serving our country who would love some holiday cheer from home.

Books, toiletries, gadgets, snacks, letters of support and more are among the things you can send them (A full list is on Vindy.com).

For me, Poland’s Tom Hardy has been the face of what this Vindy project means. We ran his photo last Christmas Day showing him at his desk in Afghanistan engulfed by Holiday Cheer items sent to him from Vindy readers. I took his photo to 20 speaking engagements this year to share this program.

He still is the face. But his is joined by the angelic Aiden Orlovsky, a Canfield girl who is a third-grader at Hilltop Elementary.

At Hilltop, Aiden’s class was learning about community service and core values of life. It was about the same time the Vindy began to promote Operation: Holiday Cheer. It all came together in a heartfelt effort that warms the soul and waters the eyes.

“Mom — that’s what we can do!” is what Kim Orlovsky remembers her daughter saying after learning about the Holiday Cheer project.

In a day, the family hatched a plan to solicit their neighbors for donations that Aiden and her family would then send off to soldiers.

The 9-year-old’s solicitation set high expectations for her neighbors. Here’s part of the letter Aiden sent to 70 homes:

“We hope that we can count on every house to make this a special holiday season for one of our country’s bravest soldiers.”

The letter asked this of the neighbors: Call the Orlovskys by Thursday and they will be by the house Sunday to pick up the donations.

Parents Ray and Kim drove the neighborhood while Aiden and brothers Grayson and Owen managed the loads from the homes to the van. (OK, Owen is 2 and Grayson is 5, so “managed” is liberally applied here.)

It’s a generous neighborhood — and creative.

On the Orlovsky table are books, Ritz crackers, flash drives, mouthwash, hand lotion, beef jerky, toothpaste, Jif peanut butter, swipes and a host of other things that you overlook in life — until you volunteer to turn over your life to help others.

Ray said they expected to collect maybe a couple of bags. It became a lot, lot more.

So much more that Ray and Kim acknowledged that they did not consider the postal bill beforehand.

But their money (and some neighbors’ money) is being well spent on life lessons and helping those who are helping you.

“It feels good,” said Aiden. “They are fighting and keeping us safe. So I think we should give something back if we can.”

There still is time for you to join in, too.

Go to Vindy.com now and look on the right side of the page for the Operation Holiday Cheer link.

Maybe your family can take a lesson from Aiden and her family: Why not plan a family activity around this program on Thanksgiving morning?

Watch for our list Thursday in The Vindicator.