By Cheryl Miller
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, August 29, 2004

STOCKTON -- Floor-to-ceiling stashes of cheese crackers, cans of beans and packages of Twinkies have replaced the furniture in Becky Mizener's living room.

The sole remaining couch may be the next to go, a final furnishing victim in Mizener's expanding mission to honor her late son and help other soldiers who remain in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

Mizener's living room serves as headquarters for her project, Packed with Pride. Every week, the military mom stuffs cardboard boxes with candy, snacks, toothbrushes and toys, and ships them to servicemen and women she's never met.

"Every box gets fruit, because they don't get enough fruit," Mizener said, filling a box for a soldier whose name was passed along by a friend.

"Then we start with the real food: cups of noodles, beef jerky, instant oatmeal, teas, cookies, crackers, two Rice Krispy Treats, peanuts, Pringles, Cheese-Its, Cracker Jacks. ..."

She fills each crevice quickly, displaying the skill of someone who's done this for almost two years. Gathering soldiers' names from fellow church members, e-mails and families, Mizener now has a list of 86 soldiers and one 50-member platoon that regularly receive her care packages in the mail.

The task is part joy, part therapy. Mizener's son, 23-year-old Jesse Mizener, was killed in Iraq on Jan. 7 when his unit came under mortar attack. Becky Mizener had sent cards, letters and gift boxes to her son ever since he entered basic training in September 2002. Twice a week she would stand in line at the post office, filling out customs forms needed to carry goodies to her son overseas.

And then he was gone.

"When I had to go and tell the ladies at the post office that he had died, it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do," she said.

When Mizener's children were young, hers was the house where neighborhood kids came to hang out. Even when Jesse left for Iraq, the block mom would send packages to 17 soldiers besides her son.

So when the fog of grief lifted a bit after Jesse's death, Mizener decided to continue sending care packages.

"It really has been a lifesaver for me," she said. "I'm still connected to the military somehow, and I still have what I call 'my soldiers.' "

In addition to food, books, magazines and hygiene items, Mizener's boxes include a questionnaire that asks recipients what they like, whether they have access to a VCR or microwave and if they know of any other soldiers who might like to receive an occasional package or letter.

The only thing Mizener asks of the recipients is a note letting her know they received their boxes and that they are safe. But many write back with grateful letters that can bring Mizener to tears.

"I am a 15-year veteran in the U.S. Navy," one package recipient wrote, "and I have never had anyone send me a package like this."

Another wrote: "I think what you're doing for people like myself is truly extraordinary."

Mizener, who works part time at a rubber-stamp store, buys many of the supplies herself on increasingly lengthy trips to the grocery store. Friends and co-workers help with some of the cost, which includes $10 in postage to mail a 4-pound box.

Mizener has renamed her living room the Pride Room. A picture of Jesse overlooks his war medals and the walls filled with supplies. His mom loves being there so much that she locks herself out sometimes, just to force herself to finish household chores or pay bills.

Politics of the war in Iraq are a distant thought.

"I'm not about the war or the president or against the war or against the president," Mizener said. "I'm about the soldiers, and that's the bottom line."

For more information about Packed with Pride, visit the Web site www.packedwithpride.com.