Western Courier

Issue date: 11/26/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Sarah Cash Jaclynn and Jeffry Cape created a way to bring Christmas to their father's Army unit.

It was Christmas night 2004, and Western Illinois University students and siblings Jeffry and Jaclynn Cape and their mother and father were awaiting room service in a hotel room at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Cape siblings, who currently live in Cuba, Ill., were celebrating on the base because their father, Master Sergeant Jeff Cape, was stationed there at the time. A small Christmas tree and presents were the extent of their decorations, but the siblings said they felt lucky nonetheless. Their father, while often away at Christmas, was only an airplane ride across the country, and they had always spent the holiday as a family.

This year, after re-deploying Nov. 9, the Capes' father will spend his first deployment - and Christmas - in Iraq. Before leaving for assignment, he told his son Jeffry that Christmas abroad was not something he was looking forward to, especially since it was a time his family had always spent together.

Without hesitation, Jeffry, junior communication major, and Jaclynn, freshman pre-social work major, decided their family Christmas tradition could not be broken. As new members of Theta Xi and Phi Sigma Sigma, they decided to use their Greek family to reach their father's new family, the 402 Army Field Support Brigade. Brainstorming with members of the Greek community, the siblings formed a plan: Adopt a Soldier.

"We're bringing Christmas to the troops," Jeffry said, smiling broadly. "Our Dad has never missed a Christmas, and we want to make him feel like he is here with us. We feel that everyone in my Dad's unit should have the opportunity to receive positive words and gifts from the people back home.

"We want to show our father how our new family, the Greek community, wants to support him and his new family that he will be living with for the next year in Iraq," he added.

With this in mind, the Cape siblings are creating what Jeffry calls an "all-Greek event." More than 200 Greek students will contribute Christmas decorations, small gift items and food items in order to mail a sort of "Christmas-in-a-box." The Chi Omegas committed to providing 80 stockings - one for each member of the Cape father's unit - as well as various games and decorations. Pella Windows, where the Capes' father works when he is off-duty, also made a sizable donation.

Continued...

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