Rallying the Troops: Burnsville to become a Yellow Ribbon City

Victor Harris of Eagan made his way along the table filled with containers holding candy, toothpaste, note pads, batteries — picking up items and putting them into a box that will eventually make its way into the hands of an armed forces member stationed overseas.

Two Monday nights a month, the retired Marine chief warrant officer, along with other military families, gather at Mary Mother of the Church in Burnsville to assemble items as part of Operation Shoebox, an effort to provide care packages, letters and supplies to those deployed overseas.

Harris knows the importance of these boxes from home – he was among the first to receive one after volunteers at the church joined up with the national program. Those that receive the boxes willingly share their loot, he said.

“Sometimes I never saw the boxes. They were shared before I got to it.” He now helps fill the boxes because, “I know how much they enjoy them,” he said.

The Catholic church along Cliff Road has an active Military Support Group, reaching out to families of deployed loved ones since December 2003. One of the group’s organizers, Lois Finan, knows well the needs of a military family. Not only did her husband spend his career in the military, but their two children have followed in his footsteps. She said that military families have special needs. And the group, besides providing boxes to those overseas, provides support services for those family members left at home.

“We talk the same language. We can help them find the services they need, and just be a support,” she said.

Victor Harris' wife Debbi agrees.

“I don’t know what I would have done without this group,” she said.

They have three boys, one with special needs, and one year after returning from his first 18-month deployment, he was deployed again.

“I felt so low, I didn’t even want to have Christmas,” she said.

Thanks to the support group, the Christmas tree and decorations went up and Harris kids had their Christmas.

“This group helped me make it through some tough, tough times,” Debbi said.

City seeks to tie the Yellow Ribbon

Finan, a Burnsville resident, supports the city’s efforts to gain state certification as a Yellow Ribbon city.

“There is such a need out there — military families give so much.” She said that communities can help people with services to help them reintegrate after being deployed — such as in job searches and even family counseling.

Burnsville hopes to join the other Yellow Ribbon communities in the state that include Farmington, Hastings, Lake Elmo, South St. Paul and Woodbury. The designation would serve as a statement to the city’s military families that it will lend community support, training and resources.

Burnsville is holding a kick-off Beyond the Yellow Ribbon event July 20 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. What’s first needed for certification is a steering committee to help guide the process. Any interested community member is invited to the event. To provide a strong support base, the group will also need the help of elected officials, medical personnel and faith-based organizations.

According to the program’s website, “Each community will develop a sustainable action plan demonstrating their commitment to Servicemembers and military families. The community will identify and connect leaders in key areas across the community, leverage
existing support activities, build awareness throughout the community and take action.”

At Mary Mother of the Church, program organizers tout the importance of community support and donations. Marti Henneman of Apple Valley has rallied the troops from that city’s Senior Center. “We have so many veterans, and we now have a donation box at the center for this cause.” She presented Finan with a $60 check.