An Inspiring Woman on a Mission: Lynelle Chauncey Zelnar

If you want to know how much of a difference the nonprofit Lynelle Chauncey Zelnar started 14 years ago is making to our men and women serving in the military overseas, just check out the letters Forgotten Soldiers Outreach (FSO) gets every month:

• “Thank you guys for an awesome mail call! We really enjoy the love from Forgotten Soldiers Outreach. ‘Big Bad John’ [the USS John McCain] is on deployment in the Pacific right now, and it has been over a month since our last mail call. These cards, notes and gifts are always well received by our crew members. Thanks again!”
  
  
• “It’s always nice to get care packages because there’s always those Paratroopers that don’t have anyone sending them anything! It’s like Christmas when we open them!”
  
  
• “It’s gestures from people like yourself that reminds us all why we do what we do. The separation from family and loved ones sometimes takes its toll on a Soldier, so things like receiving a letter or even better a package is a morale booster like no other.”

This is a small sampling of the notes and emails of appreciation that FSO has received for its work. Since its inception in 2004, the nonprofit has sent care packages to more than 400,000 members of the military. All branches of the armed services are supported through the program, which is based in Lake Worth, Florida.

The genesis of this nonprofit was a conversation between Lynelle and a colleague back in 2003. The co-worker’s son was stationed in Iraq, and he and his squad were dearly missing home, the co-worker said.  

Lynelle, who previously had careers in social work and property management, started to pull together some items to send to her colleague’s son and his squad members. The care packages were a hit and within a few months, Lynelle had founded her nonprofit to share encouragement and love from home with more military servicemen and women. Within three years, she retired so she could devote more time to Forgotten Soldiers Outreach.

She now leads a staff and group of volunteers that assemble care packages with toiletries, snack food, baby wipes, batteries, drink mixes, comic books and letters of encouragement. Each package cost about $25 to assemble and ship.

But while necessities razors and dental floss and comfort foods like mac and cheese might be appreciated, the highlight of many of the packages are the notes and cards they receive – many of them from children – saying, “Thank you for your service.”

Lynelle says that lots of schools have gotten involved with FSO and writing the letters.

“Schools are absolutely critical to our organization,” Lynelle said. “We have a terrific ‘For Educators’  section on our website. Teachers love to implement it into their curriculum because writing these letters can be part of so many subjects - geography, history, English grammar and writing skills. Plus, it teaches about giving back to the community.”

Families and friends can register a loved one by filling out a form on the group’s website. Each registered active duty member gets roughly six month’s worth of packages during their deployment. This also gives comfort to the families, many of whom simply cannot afford to send care packages, Lynelle said.

Service members also are encouraged to spread the word; each care package includes a Troop It Forward (TIF) box, essentially a 30-day supply of toiletries along with information on how an individual can register with FSO. If a registered FSO recipient notices that a fellow service member at mail call did not receive anything, the box is forwarded to that service member. Over a third of FSO’s recipients have registered through the TIF box program.

Many care package recipients wind up volunteering with FSO after their tour of duty is over, like Christopher D. McCarthy, who received several care packages from Forgotten Soldiers Outreach while he was a Marine in Afghanistan.

“The feeling it gave to me was hope, it was overwhelming joy to see the supplies that not only I needed and couldn’t get, but the stuff that put a smile on my face,” he said. “It just lets you know that someone cares, that you aren’t forgotten.”

Words of Advice from Lynelle:

“Keeping the volunteer environment pleasant and uplifting is critical. You have to stay focused and realize that the volunteers are the key people to an organization and that they are taking the time out of their schedule to help support the mission."

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