Clarkstown Lacrosse Teams, Families Gather Goods for Troops Overseas

On Saturday night a former Navy Seal who grew up in Rockland heard about a lacrosse game going on at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack. So he went down there to see what was going on and to watch the game. Little did he know how appropriate this decision was.

As it turns out, on Saturday athletes and parents from Clarkstown South’s varsity lacrosse team partnered with Adopt a Platoon to collect goods to send to troops overseas.

“He actually grew up in the neighborhood and just stopped by to see if there were any lacrosse games, because he used to play,” said Pamela Kaufman, one of the organizers of the event, about the former Navy Seal. “So he asked about the program, we talked to him, and he says, ‘I want to thank you for doing this because I know all the troops appreciate this effort.’”

The event was titled “The Clarkstown South Lacrosse Support Our Troops Classic” and featured four games throughout the day leading up to the varsity match between rivals Clarkstown South and Clarkstown North. The other three games were the Clarkstown Patriots youth game, a modified game, and a junior varsity game between Clarkstown South and Clarkstown North.

Adopt a Platoon is a national program founded in 1998 that sends care packages to troops serving overseas, particularly to soldiers serving away from the main bases who thus cannot get basic necessities as easily. According to the organization’s website, it also provides a mail-support system for serving soldiers and aids returning veterans, including those who have been wounded in battle.

Pamela Kaufman and her husband Jack, both from Suffern, organize some of these events and make fliers advertising specific goods that need to be donated. These items  include personal items like shampoo, deodorant, and toothbrushes, food items like nuts and granola bars, entertainment items like crossword puzzles and magazines, and miscellaneous items like hand and foot warmers. The fliers also ask for food items that can be cooked just by adding water, like hot chocolate and Cup Noodles soup, and personalized items like photos and letters thanking the troops for the work they are doing overseas. The donated items are then taken to the West Nyack Post Office, where they are packaged and shipped overseas.

“It’s been a spectacular kind of event to do because I think that people want some kind of way to give something to their troops, and this allows them to give it directly,” Kaufman said.

The Kaufmans first got involved with Adopt a Platoon this past November when they read an article in a local newspaper about the program. The Kaufmans, who have a son currently serving in the Armed Forces, started by telling their neighbors about the program and collecting various goods from them. They then collected items at a cheerleading competition in Suffern this past March, where they met Joanne Lent. Lent has a son on the South varsity lacrosse team and decided it would be great to help out by collecting donations at the big rivalry game between the two Clarkstown schools.

“You have to realize what’s going on in this world, and what our military is doing and how brave they are,” Lent said.

So the Kaufmans and Lent advertised the upcoming event in the press, while the Clarkstown South varsity lacrosse players advertised it in the hallways of the high school in the week leading up to the big game. The Clarkstown South players also collected items from their classmates during the week in the lobby of their school.

In fact Clarkstown players in each of the games got into the spirit of the day by wearing red, white and blue socks during the matches. The varsity match was also supposed to feature the Korean War Veterans Color Guard, who had been invited to start the game by carrying the flag across the field. Unfortunately, the organization was unable to find five members well enough to come out for the game, so the members of the Clarkstown South varsity team paraded the flag instead.

The event was a major success, as Lent noted that they already had boxes full of items collected before the varsity game even began, and the Kaufmans said it was the biggest collection they had been a part of.  Much of this, Pamela Kaufman said, was because of the work of Lent.

“Joanne Lent has been by far the most organized, creative, and efficient person that I’ve worked with, and she really was responsible for the advertising, and that’s the big thing,” she said.

Some of the donated items included a photo of the Clarkstown South varsity lacrosse team along with letters from different students thanking the troops for protecting our country. One of these letters was written by West Nyack resident Matthew Haggerty, a member of the Clarkstown Patriots whose older brothers were both members of South’s varsity lacrosse squad.  The letter reads in part, “We as an organization are very grateful that you guys constantly put your life’s [sic] on the line to make sure us [sic] as Americans do not have to live in fear […].”

Rockland County Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, whose sons are each serving in the military was also on hand to show his support for the cause. He surprised the Kaufmans before the varsity game with a certificate honoring them for the work they have done for the troops overseas.

“As a military dad with two sons in the service, something like this means the world to me. I know the Adopt a Platoon program from West Nyack, they do wonderful work, and to see other families helping like this, it just means the world to me as a dad, a member of the community. It’s just a very special thing.”

In fact Day was so determined to show his support for this cause that he missed the beginning of a formal Republican Party annual dinner so he could give the Kaufmans their award.

“When you think about what our service people are doing, what they’re going through, to be a little late for a function, I think it’s pretty clear where the priority should be,” he said “It should be here with people who are doing the right thing for your family.”