How does Niwot work? - Part 5

Pat Murphy is known for many things in Niwot, including organizing the annual Easter egg hunt and the Great Pumpkin Party, both of which have been curtailed or modified by the pandemic. But one activity the long-time Niwot resident and realtor has maintained through thick and thin – providing cookies and other goodies in care packages to U.S. troops far from home, through the efforts of the Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms, or the "cookie momsters" as they have recently come to be known.

Murphy started the effort based on a project her sister organized in Illinois decades ago. The Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms have been around for over a dozen years, becoming perhaps the best-known charitable group in the community. "They're just wonderful people," Murphy said of the volunteers. Today they have over 50 people who donate home-baked cookies and other treats to send to troops abroad five times a year.

Several Niwot families have children serving in the armed forces, including servicemen and women deployed overseas. Don and Patty Strecker and their girls, Sarah, Laura and Julie, are one such family, with all three serving in the military. "We sent packages to our own kids," Patty Strecker said, "and it just kind of grew from there." Streckers live across the street from Murphy in Morton Heights, and the project just took off.

Knowing first-hand how important it is for young service-members stationed far from home, many just out of high school or college, to maintain contact with folks back home, the Streckers have taken charge of gathering the donated items. In past years, the cookie moms gathered en masse at Murphy's house to pack up the goodies, but lately it has been only three to five women putting dropped-off items in decorated boxes. "We called it a quilting party without a quilt," Patty Strecker said.

Karen Copperberg, another cookie mom whose daughter Lindsay Underwood (NHS '01) was a Navy pilot and now works for the Department of Defense as a test pilot, helps pack up the boxes, which are free priority mail boxes from the post office. "The boxes are decorated on the inside with decorations appropriate to the season," she explained. Boxes are sent out near Valentine's Day, Easter, Passover, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah.

While Covid-19 has changed the way some things are done, the Streckers have been able to streamline the process for mailing the care packages. In the past, they had to fill out forms by hand, but now it is all done online, making it much easier for the Niwot post office to handle."The Niwot postmaster has been wonderful," Strecker said.

Boxes must be sent to an individual in the service, who often share the contents with their fellow soldiers and sailors. Names and addresses are obtained from local residents as well as those in the service. "We can't tell from the addresses where the boxes are sent, as there is no identifying information, so we don't know where they go until we get letters back from service members," Copperberg said. "We got two letters back from Afghanistan last week, and they only took six to eight days to get there."

Letters reflect the deep appreciation for the cookie moms, as well as the contents of the care packages. "One letter said, 'I want to know who made that biscotti – I want her to marry me.'" Copperberg writes a letter to the recipient in each package, with 25 to 35 packages sent on each occasion.

The Cookie Moms raise money to cover the cost of shipping the packages, which is $15.50 per box. In recent years, you will find the Cookie Moms at pancake breakfasts, Rock & Rails, and other community gatherings to give Niwot residents a chance to contribute to the cause. The Easter pancake breakfast brought in $303 in donations for postage costs."We've always had donations to cover the postage," Murphy said.

The pandemic has been hard on the organization, with traditional fundraising activities unavailable. But that hasn't stopped the group from continuing their humanitarian efforts. Addresses of deployed sailors, soldiers, airmen and marines can be dropped off at Niwot Real Estate, or emailed to [email protected].

Look for the Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms at the 4th of July Pancake Breakfast, at Rock & Rails, and at other community events around town. Your support allows them to continue their important work of building and maintaining morale among young men and women in the armed forces, and reminding them that folks in a small town on the Colorado front range haven't forgotten them. "We're thankful for their service," Murphy said. "This is just a little bit of our gift back."