Let’s Welcome Home our 2/11 Marines!

The City of Irvine, in partnership with the Irvine 2/11 Marine Adoption Committee, is collecting personal items for “Welcome Home” packages for the City’s adopted 2/11 Marine Battalion returning home from overseas deployment.

Items donated will provide Welcome Home packages for single Marines, many of whom return home to empty barracks without the comfort of family.

The collection drive runs through Friday, May 29, 2015.

Suggested donation items include:

• Towels/washcloths
• Men’s body wash/shower gel (Axe or Dove are preferred brands)
• Individually wrapped snacks (Granola bars, beef jerky or protein bars)
• Single-serve drink powder mix packets (Gatorade, Propel or Hawaiian Punch)

Female Marines are provided Welcome Home packages specifically for women from the 2/11 Adoption Committee.

Donation bins are located at the Irvine Civic Center, Irvine Police Department and the Orange County Great Park Visitors Center. For more information, please call 949-724-6655.

About 2d Battalion, 11th Marines (2/11), 1st Marine Division

The 1st Marine Division is oldest, largest and most decorated division in the United States Marine Corps. The 2d Battalion, 11th Marines (2/11) is a 155mm howitzer battalion based at Camp Pendleton, California. Its primary mission is to provide artillery support to the 5th Marine Regiment in time of conflict. At any time, the command has roughly 750 Marines and Sailors assigned to it.

The battalion’s exemplary service ranges from France in World War I to the Battles of Guadalcanal and Okinawa in the Pacific in World War II to Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War to Hue and Phu Bai in Vietnam to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Gulf War to Operation Enduring Freedom in Kuwait to the more recent and still-ongoing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About the Irvine 2/11 Marine Adoption Committee

The 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (2/11) from Camp Pendleton, was officially “adopted” by the City of Irvine at the Irvine Civic Center on September 15, 2007.  The City of Irvine and the 2/11 Marines made a pledge to encourage mutually beneficial interactions between the community and the battalion.

The Irvine 2/11 Marine Adoption Committee, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, encourages the community to support our adopted Battalion by participating and donating to a variety of activities, including charitable and educational activities and support, such as holiday and pre-deployment events, care packages, toy drives and more. for the benefit and welfare of the United States Marines and their families.