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Their gifts stolen, public gives $16,000 for wounded soldiers

More than $16,000 is sent to Operation Second Chance in the past week after the group’s president is robbed at Lakeforest mall

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006

Cindy McGrew was walking to her truck from Lakeforest mall when she felt an elbow to the back of her ribs and two men grabbed her shopping bag.

McGrew, president of nonprofit Operation Second Chance, an organization that supports injured soldiers, was carrying $650 worth of gifts for wounded soldiers when she was robbed on Nov. 20.

She had just purchased an XBOX 360 game system and Playstation 2 video game to give to soldiers.

Video surveillance cameras show the robbers stalked McGrew from the time she entered Sears and planned their attack carefully, county police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said.

McGrew, of Clarksburg, was not physically injured during the altercation, but she has been left emotionally scarred by the incident.

‘‘I’m worried and nervous when I go out places late at night,” McGrew said Friday. ‘‘I don’t like to be out by myself. It has created fear in my life. But it is worth it in order to help the soldiers.”

McGrew visits Walter Reed Army Medical Center almost every day to visit wounded soldiers and offer support.

Operation Second Chance has raised more than $140,000 over the past year. The money has been used to provide financial assistance, airline tickets, groceries and clothing for soldiers and their families.

Local television stations reported McGrew’s robbery and as a result, $16,000 had been donated to the charity in the last week. Two families with military ties donated $650 each on the night of the incident.

‘‘The outpouring of support is incredible,” McGrew said. ‘‘People are outraged and putting that outrage to good use. It is helping so many people.”

One of the soldiers McGrew reached out to is Jamie Kiklis of Gaithersburg, who served as a cavalry scout for the Army’s 3rd Armored Calvary Regime in Iraq from March to June 2005.

Kiklis suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen and thigh after he was belted with 30 rounds of gunfire during a house raid.

He met McGrew at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in July of last year.

Operation Second Chance is different from other organizations aimed at helping soldiers because soldiers receive one-on-one attention, Kiklis said. Soldiers appreciate McGrew’s personal touch, he said.

‘‘Her heart is humongous,” Kiklis said. ‘‘She is passionate about what she does. She tries to help every soldier she can. She is very patriotic.”

McGrew helped Kiklis buy a bed for his apartment when he moved to Gaithersburg. When he first heard about the Nov. 20 robbery he was angry, but he is happy McGrew was not physically injured.

Kiklis was also surprised to learn about the community outpouring after news of the robbery spread.

‘‘I’m shocked,” Kiklis said Friday. ‘‘I know there are people that care. But $16,000 in the past couple days is mind-boggling. It means people care about the soldiers. It is not a popular war.”

Operation Second Chance plans to take wounded soldiers to the Washington Redskins Player of the Year banquet and Indian Spring Country Club in December.

‘‘I hope we will see it go national because there is such a great need,” McGrew said of Operation Second Chance. ‘‘I want to touch every community in America.”

Many soldiers, including Kiklis, are offering to escort McGrew on shopping trips after hearing about the incident.

McGrew said she may let soldiers escort her during shopping trips in the future, but more steps need to be taken to ensure the safety of those shopping at the mall.

‘‘They need more security,” McGrew said. ‘‘You have an uneasy feeling when you go there. You have a lot of people hanging around. I’m more afraid.”

Marion Julier, Lakeforest’s general manager, said security is increased at the mall during the holiday season, which began Nov. 11 and runs to the end of the year. She added that every phone in the mall has a direct line to security and mall officials are available to escort shoppers to their cars during store hours.

‘‘We have millions of customers and the number of incidents like that are very minimal in comparison to the number of people here,” Julier said. ‘‘Nobody wants anything to happen, but that is living in a dream land.”

The mall does not plan to add more security personnel in response to the Nov. 20 robbery, she said. She blamed the incident, in part, on the video game craze that has swept the nation this year.