DUNDALK, Md. — A beloved Dundalk nonprofit that spent more than 16 years sending care packages to troops overseas is closing its doors.
Angels Supporting Your Troops was founded in 2010 by Irene Spatafore, who began the effort by sending packages to her grandson while he was serving in Iraq. When it was time for him to come home, he urged her to keep going.
Spatafore, now 92, said the decision to close was not one she made lightly.
"It wasn't easy to let it go. It was not easy," Spatafore said.
She said the organization's longtime volunteers have grown older, moved away, or are dealing with health issues, making it impossible to continue operations.
"People say, 'Oh, you should have never let it go.' Well, then who's going to do it? I'm 92 years old. I can't do it anymore," Spatafore said.
One of the most significant losses was her right-hand volunteer, who recently moved to Delaware.
"That was very sad. They turned their keys in June the 7th. How are you going to replace somebody like that? How are you going to teach somebody?" Spatafore said.
Over the years, Spatafore and her team of dedicated volunteers packed thousands of boxes filled with toiletries, snacks, blankets, sports equipment, puzzles, and other comfort items.
"Everything from soup to nuts. I would tell people, donate to me everything but your used Kleenex," Spatafore said.
Since 2010, the nonprofit spent more than $136,000 on postage alone to ship care packages to troops around the world.
All leftover supplies are being sent to Perry Point VA Hospital in Cecil County, a plan Spatafore said she had always intended.
"People say, 'Well, what are you going to do with all that stuff?' I always said that if ever I had to close up, it's going to go to the veterans," Spatafore said.
The money remaining in the organization's postage fund is being donated to other veteran-based organizations. So far, Spatafore has written 41 checks, ensuring her mission of supporting those who serve will continue.
Throughout it all, a key part of the mission was the man by her side,her husband, a Marine veteran who was drafted in 1952. He passed away in 2014.
"I only knew him one month when he was drafted. He was not a happy camper," Spatafore said.
Together, the two traveled to events collecting donations, with her husband helping rally contributors along the way.
"My husband said, 'Come on, buddy. That 50 cents, come on, you can afford it. You're drinking, come on.' And he would be like a marker for me. And we went everywhere," Spatafore said.
