WESTFIELD – Ninth grader Jillian Battles and a dozen or so volunteers were at the Shortstop Bar & Grill at 99 Springfield Road on the afternoon of Feb. 27, filling 800 reusable Big Y bags with goodies for area veterans and troops.

Volunteers went from table to table to pack their bags with an assortment from the 992 hand sanitizers, 804 breakfast and granola bars, 800 tissue packets, 800 decks of cards, 816 puzzles, puzzle books and games, 1,600 bags of gummy bears, 812 ramen noodle or cup noodle packages, 450 pens, pencils and markers, 800 bags of chips, and 840 Rice Krispie treats and mini-fruit cups available, according to Jillian’s mother Jen Battles, who helped to make sure there was enough of each item.

Battles, who attends Westfield High School, has spent the last two months asking for donations to fill the bags, most of which are going to Project New Hope, www.projectnewhopema.org, a Massachusetts-based resource organization for veterans and their families with an office and food pantry at Hampton Pond Plaza, 1029 North Road in Westfield. Project New Hope will also send some of the bags to troops stationed at Barnes and Westover airbases.

Jen Battles said that after partnering with Project New Hope in the fall for a food drive for troops and veterans for the holidays, her daughter was inspired to do more with the organization.

“Jillian decided to really push to do something bigger,” Jen said. She said some places Jillian approached for donations didn’t take her seriously at first, but she persevered, receiving donations from Big Y, MGM, Stop & Shop, Utz, Albanese Candy and Walmart, as well as friends and family.

Also in each bag is a copy of Jillian’s hand-made thank-you card for the troops, and Project New Hope brochures.

“I think this is amazing, it is going to put a smile on a lot of veterans’ faces,” said Ann Marie Baxter, who runs the food pantry and other services for veterans at the Westfield Project New Hope office. She said the pantry is open 9 a.m. to noon, Monday to Friday.

“I love the organization, I love the group, and I love their cause,” said state Sen. John Velis, who also came to the Shortstop to help fill the bags for veterans.

Velis called the playing cards, puzzles, games and goodies that were going in the bags, “the stuff that matters. There is no better way to say thank you; you know the population at large has your back,” he said, adding that he knows because he has been on the receiving end. “They are going to get so excited with these,” he said.

In addition to his role as a legislator, Velis is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

Also helping were other members of the YMCA swim team and the YMCA Leaders Club, Camden Caruso, Noah Perkins, and Sophia Parades, and Westfield Middle School Principal Jessica Kennedy and her daughter Charlotte. Jillian Battles was the Project 351 Ambassador to the middle school last year.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Jillian’s father Jeff Battles, who was also helping fill the bags.
He said the Battles family has many members serving in the military, including his father, brother, uncle and nephew.

“They inspired me to do this in the first place,” Jillian said. “They are not thanked as much as they should be.”