LETTER TO EDITOR OF JEWISH WEEK - PRINTED ON APRIL 16, 2004

      (04/16/2004)
      Passover Rations
      As a community of family, friends, neighbors, synagogues, etc., we
send care packages to the men and women in the armed services ("Soldiers To
Get Passover Food," March 12). What makes this Passover different from all
other Passovers is that for the first time, the U.S. government has
aggressively taken action to honor Passover celebrations and observances.
This is no small feat. The number of people involved is staggering.

      A religious military contractor assembled the Passover rations, which
had to include main meals. My Own Meals Inc. produced the Passover meals
last fall and inventoried them without any government commitment to purchase
any of them. More than 100 people were involved with the production. (My Own
Meals Inc. created the kosher rations program and has been the sole supplier
of kosher rations to the U.S. military since the program began in 1996.)

      Then, once the rations were available, they had to get to each
soldier. This involved the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Supply
Center Philadelphia, DESLOG (Pentagon), Air Cargo freight depots and jets,
mostly non-Jewish chaplains, some Jewish chaplains, the Army Center for
Excellence-Subsistence, the Army Central Command, Marine HQ, Army HQ, Air
Force HQ, Navy HQ, Special Operations, Reserve Commands, Warrant Officers in
theater (overseas), warehousing, local in-country distribution people and
trucks, each soldier's chain of command, etc.

      The military buys about 30 million rations a year and a multiple of
that amount during wars. Yet all of this was done to get 3,888 rations to
Jewish personnel in various combat and non-combat locations by the first
week of April. So let's take a moment to rejoice in the accomplishment of
our government.

      Mary Anne Jackson
      President and Founder