NATIONS BUILDING NEWS ONLINE: Mon., Feb. 26, 2007
Builders Join ‘Silly String' Drive to Save Soldiers' Lives in Iraq
CANOA Homes in Tucson, Ariz. has joined a national effort to collect and send Silly String to troops in Iraq and is coordinating its collection efforts with the Rural Metro Fire Department and the Catalina Council of the Boy Scouts.
According to news articles distributed by the Associated Press and Time magazine, the project began in December with a New Jersey mother, Marcelle Shriver, whose son is a soldier based in Iraq. She began collecting and sending him Silly String after he told her that the party favor is saving lives in Iraq.
Troops shoot the plastic goo 10 to 12 feet across a room before entering it to detect nearly invisible tripwires inside.
CANOA Homes is coordinating Southern Arizona's efforts to assist Shriver, according to John Shorbe, the company's president. Shorbe, a Vietnam veteran who has served twice as president of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA), said that the Silly String “would have been a very useful tool to have. It sounds so simple, and yes, a little silly, but this is the type of support we can provide to our troops. It is something they can easily carry, and if it saves even one life, it will be well worth it.”
SAHBA is supporting this special project with both purchases and cash donations, and encourages fellow HBAs across the country to support our troops!
Cans of Silly String or cash donations may be sent to:
John Shorbe, President
201 N. Bonita, Suite 135
Tucson, AZ. 85745
CANOA Homes will ship the cans to Shriver, who has made arrangements to send them to Iraq and into the hands of the soldiers.