Alicia Robinson
Christmas came and went two months ago, but Laura Dietz and Joy
Wynkoop don't seem to have noticed -- they just keep on giving.
Dietz and Wynkoop are a dynamic duo who formed "Operation
Gratitude" during the holidays to collect toys and gifts for the
families of Camp Pendleton Marines who were deployed to Iraq. The two
neighbors also raised money to assist Camp Pendleton families and
recently helped form a Marine Corps auxiliary league.
On Saturday, the Corona del Mar residents struck again.
Touched by the story of the Davis family -- a Marine family with
four school-age children, whose mother has Lyme disease -- Dietz and
Wynkoop helped raise money to buy household items for the family. Two
Marine wives, who act as liaisons to other Camp Pendleton families,
managed to get new furniture, and everyone who collaborated on the
project trooped over to the home of Master Sgt. Charles Davis to
surprise the family Saturday.
On the way to the base, Dietz and Wynkoop explained why they
launched their effort to help Marine families last fall.
California's first lady, Maria Shriver, was an inspiration to
Wynkoop, who comes from a military background. Her father was a
Marine who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and her son is
now in the Marines.
When she saw Shriver on TV, encouraging people to do more for
military families, Wynkoop picked up the phone and called Dietz, a
full-time civic volunteer who donates to local food banks, the Red
Cross and her church.
"We just decided that the families of the men over in Iraq needed
help and started getting involved with some of the wives on the
base," Wynkoop said. "We decided to start a grass-roots effort."
Get Dietz started, and she can talk to you all day about various
families' troubles, what kind of help they need and how hard it is to
raise a family of several children on military pay.
During World War II and the Korean War, she said, "most of the
guys that went into the service weren't married. Now we have a really
different situation."
People often don't realize that military families need help, and
that's what they're trying to spread the word about, Wynkoop said.
Before surprising the Davis family, the two women met with Kim
McNees and Michele Beamer, the liaisons -- or "key volunteers" -- for
the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. McNees and Beamer helped get the
furniture for the Davis family at discount prices.
Dietz also gave a hug to Amber Torrens, a young mother of four
