Mail call will be a bit brighter for 350 sailors serving on a destroyer in the Middle East thanks to a care package drive spearheaded by a Mt. Morris church and fueled by volunteers across Ogle County.

The basement of the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris was abuzz Thursday morning, Oct. 16, as volunteers from several area agencies and organizations filled sealable plastic bags with treats, toiletries, and cards and packed them into cardboard boxes to ship to the USS Fitzgerald.

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Volunteers assembled care packages for sailors on the USS Fitzgerald at the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Earleen Hinton)

Joyce Long, chairman of the church’s Outreach Team, spearheaded the project dubbed “All Hands on Deck”.

“We enlisted the community’s help with both writing letters to the sailors as well as collecting items or donations for the care packages,” she said. “The sailors are aboard the USS Fitzgerald that has been deployed from San Diego since June 2 of this year and they are currently in the the Middle East. They will be at sea through Christmas, through the New Year, and hope to be back in San Diego in February. It’s a long time to be away from home to be away from family.”

Lt. Logan Murphy, the ship’s chaplain, resided in Mt. Morris for five years, serving as associate pastor for EFCMM. He joined the U.S. Navy in 2023 and has been on the Fitzgerald since August 2023. He contacted EFCMM about sending care packages to all the men and women aboard the ship.

“I got a note from Logan just last night expressing again his thanks in helping him serve the sailors,” said Long. “It will not only include a bunch of goodies and snacks but also a Christmas gift book that will tell each sailor the true meaning of Christmas. He did tell me that most of the sailors are young, so go heavy on snacks and light on toiletries.”

Thursday morning, tables in the church’s basement were overflowing with items, which were placed in plastic bags and then packed in cardboard boxes to be shipped.

One table showcased letters, notes and drawings adults and school children had created for the sailors, thanking them for their service.

One 13-year-old wrote: “I enjoy building models, playing soccer and watching the Green Bay Packers. Thank you for serving our country. You are really brave. May God keep you safe.”

Logan’s wife, Michelle, and their two children, John and Eliana, ages 7 and 5, flew to Mt. Morris from San Diego to take part in the event.

“When his ship deployed earlier this year, my husband wanted to organize care packages for the crew. Knowing how kind and generous everyone is, he asked the church if they would organize the effort,” said Michelle. “The church and other organizations in the community have really stepped up to show their love and support for these sailors who have had a very challenging deployment, and we are so grateful. My husband sends his deepest thanks on behalf of the entire crew.

“Deployment is always challenging, and this one has been particularly hard on the crew and families. There have been very few opportunities for rest, as the ship has spent the vast majority of the time at sea with few stops to continue with their assigned missions,” she said. “These Christmas care packages will be a real morale boost to the crew, especially since they will be missing time with their families during the holidays this year.”

She said Logan hopes the care packages would brighten the sailors’ day, especially in the midst of “a really hard deployment”.

“They’re not having much time to step off the ship,” she said. “They’re just, they’ve been mostly in the ocean, just working really hard to keep our waters safe. Sailors who are constantly working nonstop in high stress environments, they need that small taste of home to remind them what they’re working for, to remind them, hey, that every day, every moment is worth it, and it brings a little piece of comfort.”

Michelle, John and Eliana helped assemble the care packages.

“I was getting really emotional and tearing up because just so many miles away, oceans away,” said Michelle. “There’s all this love that’s being shown by this wonderful community in a small town that is so impactful and truly, you never know, one handwritten letter. One care package, it can just really turn someone’s day completely around.”

EFCMM Pastor Bruce McKanna thanked all the organizations that worked together to create the care packages.

“We pulled together not only people from our church, but other organizations in the community, schools, 4H clubs, the American Legion here in Mt. Morris, and several others to put together these expressions of our gratitude, for the sailors and their service, and to just encourage them while they’re away from home,” McKanna said.

Michelle also thanked all the volunteers and church officials who made the “All Hands on Deck Effort” a success.

“I’m honored to be here, and to see this, it means the world,” Michelle said. “It’s really impactful, and it means the world to my husband and I that across many, many miles, there will be a lot of joy received for the holidays.”

She said Logan decided to join the Navy after receiving an email from a recruiter.

“He got an email from a recruiter and he started thinking about the need and there’s truly a big need for chaplains in the Navy right now. Chaplains are there for 100% confidential counseling. They offer encouragement, they help keep morale up, and truly are able to help not just the sailor, but the whole family, in the midst of difficult situations and hard times,” she said.

She said the spouses and families of servicemen and women also make sacrifices.

“Everyone goes through it together and the children are resilient and wives, you know, there’s sailors aboard the ship right now that missed the birth of their child, you know, and there’s moms just...carrying it all together,” she said.

About the USS Fitzgerald

The USS Fitzgerald is a guided missile destroyer homeported out of San Diego with a crew of nearly 350 enlisted sailors, senior enlisted leaders, and officers.

Commissioned in 1995, the Fightin’ Fitz is named after Lt. William Fitzgerald, who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism on Aug. 7, 1967, when he was mortally wounded in Vietnam.

Surrounded by enemy forces, Lt. Fitzgerald ordered his people to evacuate and remained behind to provide them with covering fire. Honoring the ultimate sacrifice and valor of its namesake, the ship’s motto is “Protect Your People.”