North Carolina inmates help Afghan orphans

Michael F. Easley Governor		Theodis Beck Secretary
North Carolina Department of Correction

For Release: IMMEDIATE	Contact: Mike Stater
Date: Dec. 11, 2006	Phone: 919 -716-3733

North Carolina Inmates Help Afghan Orphans RALEIGH – For many years inmates at the North Carolina Department of Correction's Southern Correctional Institution in Troy have been giving back to their local community through the Blanket Recovery Program. This year, the inmates and prison staff joined with volunteer groups around the country and a Florida Army National Guard unit to help orphans in Kabul, Afghanistan. The program also provided items to many local organizations including several Montgomery County schools, the Troy Housing Authority, the Montgomery County Health Department, Sandhills Development Center and the American Red Cross. About 1,000 blankets made at Southern CI were included in shipments of about 2,000 blankets, soccer balls and basic school supplies which made their way from the United States to Kabul. Members of the 930^th Army Liaison Team from Homestead, FL, stationed in Kabul distributed the items at the Allahoddin orphanage. Army Lt. Col. Abe Conn, liaison officer with the 930^th, contacted Gary Miller, Southern CI administrator, a few months ago after learning of the Blanket Recovery Program through the Internet. Female inmates at Southern make all of the blankets from donated cloth scraps from old inmate uniforms, t-shirts, sheets and donations of waste materials from textile mills. Donations from the inmates and staff helped pay the shipping costs to Afghanistan. The program began in July 1998 under the supervision of Southern Correctional Officer Mike McIntyre. Inmates have made kindergarten mats, stuffed animals, paint smocks, school supply caddies for schoolchildren across the state, as well as wheelchair cushions for the disabled and stockings for Christmas. The program has supplied blankets for the American Red Cross, rescue missions and emergency management offices. # # # (Editors: Visit http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2261 for more information.)