Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq
Public Affairs Office
Phoenix Base APO AE 09348

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No. 090906-01
Sept. 6, 2009
Contact:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
DSN:  318-852-8742
Maj. Bob Owen

Clothing and Toys Collected for Children of Female Prison Inmates

BAGHDAD – Hundreds of children in Iraq’s prison system received new clothes, shoes and toys Sept. 3 thanks to the efforts of some caring U.S. military personnel, citizens and organizations in the United States.

U.S. Navy Master at Arms Chief Hector Villanueva, lead advisor for Tribal Affairs, Multi-national Security Transition Command-Iraq and U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Anita Francis with Law and Order Task Force have been collecting clothing, shoes and toys to distribute to these children who stay with their mothers in Iraq’s prisons. 

“Many times, when you have a woman convicted of a crime and put into prison, there are young children who must be taken care of,” said Villanueva. “The fathers [often] don’t have the ability to take care of them, so the Iraqi prison system allows the children to stay with their moms in prison.”

These children are in need of clothes and other basic necessities and this is where the collection efforts come in to help. Many individuals and organizations in the United States have helped by collecting clothes, shoes and toys and sending them to Iraq to be distributed to these children. The Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Institute out of New York, along with the Hylant Group from Dublin, Ohio and the Credit Suisse Group, PJ Arthurs, out of Chicago, Illinois were the largest donors of these much needed supplies.

It is efforts like this that build a continued trust and bond with the Iraqi people, Villanueva said.  “This is not an Army program or a government program. This is the work of individual soldiers and sailors who care about the Iraqi people and wanted to make a personal difference.”

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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS CONCERNING THIS RELEASE, CONTACT THE MULTI-NATIONAL SECURITY TRANSITION COMMAND – IRAQ PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE BY E-MAIL AT This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it OR BY PHONE AT DSN: (318) 852-1332 OR IRAQNA: 0790-194-0270.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION VISIT:  WWW.MNSTCI.IRAQ.CENTCOM.MIL.