Seahawks, Family team up for good cause

Fundraiser will help Family put together care packages

Somer Breeze-Hanson / Northwest Guardian

TUKWILA — Some Families get together on the weekends to watch football or catch up over dinner. The Eaton Family gets together on the weekends to put together care packages to send to deployed Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

Dan and Beki Eaton and their Family gathered Oct. 30 to put together 92 care packages to send overseas, including to their son Pfc. Jeff Eaton.

While the Family worked their connections to accumulate supplies, food and toiletries to include in the flat rate postage box, it costs nearly $2,000 to ship 92 boxes. So the Family used a connection in Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ben Obomanu to reach out to the community.

“We have connections as a family,” Dan said. “Let’s use our connections and try to flood Afghanistan with as many boxes as we can.”

One of Jeff’s cousins, Jessica Eaton-Burns, is married to Kenny Burns, a Seahawks season ticket holder since 1995. Kenny is close friends with several Seattle players, including Obomanu. The wide receiver got together some of his teammates: Doug Baldwin, Roy Lewis, Kris Durham, Byron Maxwell, Ricardo Lockette and Richard Sherman to help raise donations at the Give Back to Our Troops charity drive at a 76 gas station Nov. 1.

“It’s important to us because we understand the troops overseas do a great job protecting our country, but a lot of times their needs go unnoticed,” Obomanu said. “A lot of the troops over there need the small things like toiletries and sometimes we forget about that.”

Obomanu and his teammates posed for photographs and signed autographs to raise money to ship the care packages. At the end of the day the Family had raised about $300 to send 22 boxes. Donations of food and toiletries for future care packages were also dropped off at the event.

“It’s awesome having the community come together,” said Jeff’s sister Jenni Eaton. “It’s a way we can say thanks.”

What started out as a way to make sure a Family member had necessities, turned into supporting as many Soldiers as the Family is able to support. The Family wanted to step up their efforts when Jeff began to ask his family members to send supplies to Soldiers who weren’t receiving care packages from back home. The original goal was to put together 25 boxes, but the efforts from the Family, the Seahawks and the community turned 25 into 92.

“We’re just average people,” Jessica Eaton-Burns said. “We’re not an organization, a non profit that does this all the time.”

The Family formed an assembly line Oct. 30 to put together the 92 boxes. Eaton-Burns worked the phones before the packing date to accumulate as many supplies as she could while still working her full-time job and caring for her family.

Private 1st Class Jesse Sargent went to basic training in June 2010 with Jeff and they both ended up stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Sargent of the 3rd Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., is preparing for his first deployment in December. Sargent and other fellow 3rd Bde., 2nd Inf. Div. Soldiers were present at the charity drive to support their Soldiers overseas.

The care packages will be an ongoing effort for the Eaton Family and Eaton-Burns is determined to find a vendor willing to donate socks.