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Marine Sgt. Luis Mercado Jr. is the most popular man in his platoon when a package arrives in Iraq from his mom in Orange County. Surrounded by many soldiers, he distributes supplies of socks, drinks and food. Two large boxes of potato chips "disappear in 10 seconds, as if [the soldiers] have never eaten chips before," says Mercado.

Luz Mercado sends out the care packages daily to boost the soldiers' morale. Sponsoring her son's platoon has become her mission since their deployment to Iraq. "We have a mini Sam's Club in our garage," Luis Mercado Sr. says. "All you need is a shopping cart to go down the aisles...Things we take for granted, they appreciate a great deal. At 7:30 a.m., it is already 137 degrees there, so drinks are very important."

Luz operated as a one-person charity for months; now she is affiliated with the non-profit organization Support Our Heroes. "it was getting costly, about $30 to $40, to send the packages," says Luis Sr. The couple have been overwhelmed by the public's response to recent publicity, which sparked donations from families and organizations. "One child sent a letter with a check for $5. He said it was all he could do now, but when he gets older he wants to be a Marine," says Luis Sr..

Luz says the soldiers are doing more for her than she can for them. "Whether we believe in the war or not, they're giving us their lives."

October 01, 2005

Soldier's mother fulfilling promise

By Tim Logan
Times Herald-Record
tlogan@th-record.com

New Windsor - Sgt. Luis Mercado is back in the states now, stationed down in South Carolina. But his mom, Lucy Mercado, still has the big yellow ribbon tied to her front door and the little ones in the tree in her front yard.

She's still collecting and sending care packages to the troops in Iraq, just like she did when her son was over there. But these days, for some reason, not as many donations are coming in. "I don't know why," she said.

The war's still going on, after all.

"Thank God my son is home and safe," she said. "But my promise was to keep going until all the troops are safe."

So she's still putting the word out, still handing out fliers and soliciting donations for "Support Our Heroes," the foundation she started last year to organize donations for the troops.

She still has some supplies stacked against the wall of her garage Ð candy, energy drinks, shaving cream and more. And she still makes two trips a week to the post office with care packages, some for a Marine unit in Iraq, others for an Army squad over there.

It's just that the supplies are trickling in now, instead of pouring in. It's been slow for a while, she said, long before Hurricane Katrina demanded donations to the Gulf Coast. She's hoping things will pick up with a little publicity.

"We really want to continue this," Mercado said.

It's just that, as the war fades into the everyday, it becomes harder to keep it up.