TUPD officer stationed in Afghanistan

Officers of the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) will be sending a large care package today to University patrol officer Lori Murphy, a military reservist on active duty in Afghanistan.

"A great example of a Tufts leader," Murphy has corresponded with Sergeant Doug Mazzola and others in the Public Safety department via e-mail on a regular basis throughout her time in Afghanistan, according to Assistant Director of University Public Relations Siobhan Houton.

Much of her correspondence has focused on the lives of children in the country. Murphy wrote that "Afghani children approached her and begged for food and water," Houton said. Moved by the experience, Murphy "started thinking of ways to brighten their lives a bit."

Murphy wrote that she wanted to give them toys to "bring a smile to their face," Mazzola said. "If you knew Lori, it's just so typical [of her] to think of the kids first," he said.

Mazzola put the e-mail out on the Public Safety e-mail system and received enthusiastic responses from members of TUPD, the Fire Marshal's Office, and the environmental safety offices who wanted to help with the project. Because of "the person who Lori is, nobody had to think twice," Mazzola said.

Students involved in Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) were also involved in creating a the care package.

More than $400 was collected to be used for the purchase of children's toys.

Mazzola took his own children to WalMart in Plymouth, which had offered a discount, to choose the materials to be included in the package. The package contains books, games, dolls, stuffed animals, and other toys to distribute to Afghani children.

Tufts' Police Corporal Duane Weisse's daughter, and her elementary school class, drew pictures and wrote poems and letters to include in the package. Industrial Hygiene Technician Peter Nowak's children donated a dozen teddy bears.

Murphy's Tufts coworkers also gathered coffee, candy, chocolate, and other rare food items for the members of her military police unit stationed in the war torn country.

The care package will be sent through the US Postal Service and is expected to arrive in ten to 15 days. Murphy will then distribute the materials to local children.

In an e-mail written yesterday, Murphy lauded "the generosity at Tufts" and called the outpouring of effort and resources "awesome." Her superiors were very excited about the shipment as well, Murphy wrote.

The TUPD plans to assemble another care package of basic school supplies after Murphy described the village school where she is stationed as not much more than an empty room, Mazzola said.

Murphy began special training in July and will serve for at least one year, depending on demand necessitated by future world events, Mazzola said. As part of the 772nd Military Police Company, her duties include patrolling secured areas, providing protection to soldiers on base, and patrolling US interests off-base.

She and the other soldiers in her unit are "very much in harm's way," Mazzola said.

Murphy working began at Tufts in Oct. 2000, and her TUPD colleagues hope she will return to the University after her duty oversees comes to an end. Murphy is a resident of nearby Taunton, MA.