Diane writes in with a project she recently discovered online and wanted to share with the Decatur (Georgia) community.

Over on “Adventures in Paradise”, the mother of the commander of the USS Decatur, Lynne, recently wrote of her plans of putting together 278 gift boxes for the sailors on board.  Together with the help of her daughter, Commander Shanti Sethi, they compiled a list of items to include in the boxes, most notably 278 hand-knitted wool hats for the sailors on those cold days and nights at sea.

The deadline for items is November 1st.  Please note that I can’t 100% verify the validity of this effort, except to say that it certainly seems authentic – there are MANY replies from other knitters indicating they would be drumming up support – and that the blog includes many entries from Sethi herself, with reports and pictures aboard the Decatur.

So there you have it.  There is no connection here other than that many frequenters of this site and those aboard the Decatur currently live in locations named after the Naval hero.  But sometimes, in a world so vast, that is all that’s needed to focus an effort and help out a fellow American.