By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

UNION TWP. - Mia Elliott Supe got a heart-wrenching phone call last year from her brother, Sgt. 1st Class Curtis "Bobby" Elliott, an 18-year Army veteran who was deployed in Iraq.

Send packages, he urged; the soldiers need them.

Mia Supe (left) and Erica O'Neil make their weekly trek to the post office in Batavia to mail care packages to troops in Iraq. (Enquirer photo/GLENN HARTONG)

"He said: 'Sis, you don't understand, we've been here six weeks and some of these boys haven't gotten one piece of mail,' " recounts the Clermont County resident.

So she sent packages to the 20 men in her brother's unit, which later grew to 60. Last Christmas, she sent small toys the soldiers wanted so they could carry them in their pockets and give out to the Iraqi children.

Since that phone call, Supe and other supporters have not only sent mail and packages to some 1,500 soldiers, but she and friend Erica O'Neil, of Bethel, have created a Web site called MilitarySupportConnection.com. The site, started last month, links military support groups in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, helps connect military families who need support to the right agencies, and helps volunteers who want to get involved but don't know how.

O'Neil, who manages the site, says: "It's a way to bring to the public's attention what all we have going on, not only in Clermont County specifically, but in the whole Greater Cincinnati area."

The site offers a regional contact person in five local communities.

Allison Walker, in Germany, is among those who have been helped through the site. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Arthur Walker, a native of Burlington, is stationed in Germany and has been deployed to Iraq twice in the last year.

The family experienced some bad luck after his latest deployment. Shelby, 11, their oldest of three children, broke her foot. The injury resulted in surgery and a five-day hospital stay. Days later, their kitchen caught fire.

Needing support, Allison found Military Support Connection.

"Mia got the word out about our family, and I swear, immediately people started e-mailing and wanting to know what they could do for us," Allison said. Her husband recently returned to Germany.

"The only thing that I know is that when and if he goes somewhere again, I have made friends that I can depend on to be there if I need anyone to talk to," Allison said.

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For more information, visit www.militarysupportconnection.com.