State College woman on ‘blind faith journey’ to send care packages to military units

After she boarded her flight, Trish Shallenberger noticed the blistered hands of the passenger next to her. She soon learned that he was a 19-year-old military medic preparing for his first deployment to Iraq.

Inspired by their conversation, she offered to send him care packages while he was deployed but he graciously refused out of respect for his fellow soldiers. Taking a leap of faith, Shallenberger said she would send packages to all 177 soldiers in his unit.

When their flight landed, they exchanged contact information and she left him with five words — “you can count on me.”

Fifteen years later, Shallenberger, 58, runs the State College-based nonprofit A Soldier’s Hands, which sends skincare products to active-duty military troops. The organization has sent more than 19,000 individual care packages since 2007.

Shallenberger reflects on her chance encounter with Mark Edhegard, the man on the plane, as the moment that changed the trajectory of her life. When she returned to her then home in Yardley, she immediately began reaching out to her community for help.

“I told everyone I knew that I made a promise to this young man and that failure wasn’t an option,” Shallenberger said.

Small packages, big impact

Four months into his deployment, Edhegard was called into his commander’s office and was shocked to see almost 200 individually wrapped boxes. When his commander, David Van Horn, asked what he was supposed to do with all of it, Edhegard told him about the woman on the plane — and how the packages were for everyone in the unit.

Edhegard, now 33 and living in Oregon working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Van Horn dropped everything and called the entire unit to line up outside. One by one, they began handing out the packages.

“They were all hooting and hollering because at this point some of these guys hadn’t received anything, they didn’t have families writing them or people sending them mail so they were just so happy to get something,” Edhegard said.

He immediately called Shallenberger and expressed his gratitude, describing the unfolding scenes so she could visualize her impact. Three months later, she did it again. This time the packages included hand drawn cards from children that the soldiers taped on their walls.

“It was a big morale boost,” Edhegard said. “It meant something to each and every one of those people. I saw smiles on guys who rarely smiled. A lot of them realized that there is someone out there that really cares and appreciates them.”

The thing that struck Van Horn most was the “uniqueness” of the products inside the packages — and how they provided a sense of comfort in adjusting to northern Iraq’s arid climate.

“We didn’t know what to do with a lot of the stuff, but she included explanations for how to use it and thought of everything from chapped lips to split knuckles,” Van Horn said. “It made life a lot less miserable.”

Van Horn said he saw positive sides to people that he had never previously seen because they were so inspired by Shallenberger’s efforts.

“It’s easy to say, ‘thanks for your service,’ when you bump into a soldier walking around town but it’s another thing to actually take deliberate steps to figure out a way to convey it,” Van Horn said.

Effort grows, moves to State College

After the success she had with her first deliveries, Shallenberger knew her work sending care packages had only just begun. She continued to organize deliveries to entire units and in 2013, she filed for nonprofit status.

Shallenberger emphasized that the nonprofit would be nowhere without volunteers, who help with everything from administrative tasks to assembling care packages.

Each care package contains a hand cream, a sunscreen and a lip balm with SPF to combat blistered skin and lips, as well as a handwritten letter, hard candy and an embroidered star from retired flags that Shallenberger says serves as a reminder to the soldiers that they are not forgotten.

Five years ago, when Shallenberger’s husband got a job at Penn State, she left behind a dedicated network of volunteers in Yardley to move to State College. At first, she feared she would have trouble attracting new volunteers to further her mission.

Instead, she said the community welcomed her with open arms and began offering their support. Currently, she has more than 30 active volunteers in State College.

The volunteers meet weekly at Shallenberger’s home and the first Monday of each month with the residents of Liberty Hill, taking on whatever tasks the day requires like organizing care packages or writing letters to the troops.

“My belief is that people want to serve, and they want to get involved with something that is bigger than them,” Shallenberger said. “They just need to be given an opportunity.”

While she continues to tirelessly stride toward new goals — like sending 50,000 letters to U.S. troops in Germany by the end of 2022 — Shallenberger said she couldn’t be prouder of what she has accomplished. The nonprofit has grown at the same time as her children, now 15, 18, 21 and 23, who grew up writing letters and assembling care packages.

Much like the moment that catalyzed her endeavors, Shallenberger said she continues to rely on leaps of faith to fulfill her goals. While her efforts include its fair share of challenges — like mobilizing enough volunteers to meet deadlines or fundraising the money to support larger units — she said she believes fate sat her next to Edhegard on that flight for a reason.

“Whenever I think ‘is this how I should be spending my time,’ something will happen to say ‘yes, this is your calling,’” Shallenberger said. “I believe that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

To meet letter writing goals, Shallenberger is looking for 10 captains from every state responsible for 100 letters. For those interested in becoming a state captain or volunteering for the organization, visit A Soldier’s Hands’ website, www.asoldiershands.org.

This story was originally published January 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.