Operation Iraqi Children

Operation Iraqi Children is a grass-roots program founded in early 2004 by actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, CSI: NY) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend).  Sinise and Hillenbrand created OIC to give concerned Americans a way to reach out to war-stricken Iraqi children and support American troops in their efforts to assist them.  Since its inception, OIC has delivered to Iraq over 200,000 school supply kits, along with more than half a million toys and thousands of Arabic-language books, shoes, blankets, backpacks and sets of sports equipment, all of which have been distributed to Iraqi children by our troops.  While our focus remains on Iraq, in recent months, OIC has extended its reach, sending shipments of school supplies to Afghanistan and the east African nation of Djibouti, where American troops are distributing them to children in need.  Featured on CBS Nightly News, ABC News, and MSNBC, and in publications such as The Weekly Standard, O, and Parade, Operation Iraqi Children has been named by Reader's Digest magazine as one of “America's 100 Best.”

Whether you would like to make a simple monetary donation-100% of which will go to purchase supplies for children and offset shipping costs-build and send school supply kits yourself, or start a school supply kit drive in your community, you can help our troops foster goodwill between themselves and the communities they work in, and bring brighter futures to children in desperate need.  Click on one of the links to the left to see how you can help.  Join us!