Jersey Mike's Connects Bonney Lake to Troops Overseas

On a small table in the back of , there is a small bulletin board, a stack of blank white paper, a box and an American flag. The bulletin board reads, “Wall of Honor” with photos of soldiers who have served overseas.

“Some of the people on the board have been killed, some have been wounded,” said Lorian Maddox, a Lake Tapps resident and the person behind the display.

Maddox set up the display when her sister Sharon and brother-in-law John Patrick when they opened Jersey Mike's in March 2007.

The idea behind the board is for people to post pictures of soldiers they know or to write a note of encouragement, Maddox said. Once the box is full, Maddox picks up the letters and sends them to soldiers.

“The idea gets a lot of folks into the restaurant,” said John Patrick, owner of Jersey Mike’s Subs in Bonney Lake. “Once the board was put up, the community stepped up and started utilizing it.”

Patrick said the reason he agreed to have the display in the restaurant was because of the family connection he has with the service. Patrick and his wife Sharon both served in the Air Force and both sets of their parents served in WWII. Maddox is retired from the Air Force, her son in the Marines and husband is retired Navy.

Maddox sends packages to soldiers through anymarine.com, a web site that delivers letters and boxes to Marines overseas. Maddox sends troops boxes full toothpaste, toothbrush, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, batteries, flashlights, books, magazines and playing cards. For women she sends hair ties, lotions, bobbie pins and feminine products.

Maddox started sending boxes to the troops when her son joined the Marines and was sent to Iraq in 2004. She said he sent her a photo that said, “We are at war and America is at the mall.” It was then that Maddox realized soldiers in Iraq needed more support.

“Most of the guys don’t get mail or anything and I wanted them to know we haven’t forgotten them,” Maddox said.

Lake Tapps Community Church has helped Maddox collect items and has paid for the postage to send a lot of the boxes.

“A lot of the soldiers don’t have regular good or cannot shower for weeks on end,” Maddox said. “I have a friend who is in Afghanistan living on a mountain top and I sent him tuna and beef jerky.”

Sometimes Maddox sends silly gifts, for example one year she sent soldiers a box of rubber Halloween masks.

Maddox said she sends something personally once a week.

“It is just my mission in life,” she said.

For more information on sending letters and/or boxes to soldiers contact Lorian Maddox by phone at 253-312-2126 or e-mail at lorian@windermere.com.