NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
December 31, 2003
Release Number: 03-12-83
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
801ST DONATES SHOES, SUPPLIES TO NEGLECTED SCHOOLS
MOSUL, Iraq - Soldiers of the 801st Main Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), spent Tuesday afternoon at the Al Busaif Primary School presenting the school's bright-eyed students with shoes for their feet and supplies for their minds. By the end of the day, hundreds of little feet were crowned with brand new shoes, while little backpacks were filled with new writing utensils, notepads, coloring books and other school supplies.
The school supplies were sent to soldiers in Iraq from U.S. citizens. Coalition Forces paid for the shoes at a price tag of nearly $6,000 for the school's 1,300 children.
The 801st is part of a division-wide project called Operation Adopt-a-Village. Soldiers have spent the last month helping restore the primary school, along with a smaller nearby intermediate-level school.
The battalion has spent more than $20,000 on the two schools by upgrading light fixtures, repaving nearby sidewalks, installing new refrigerators and laying new carpet.
Including Al Busaif, 35 villages in Mosul have been adopted as part of Operation Adopt-a-Village. However, the 801st is one of only two units in the 101st to take part. The other 33 villages were adopted by citizens of various U.S. towns, such as Peach Tree City, Ga., Barrington, R.I., Clarksville, Tenn., North Andover, Maine, and several towns in Nebraska.
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