LONG-DISTANCE LOVE

Sisters help send packages to St. Colman’s therapist’s daughter on USS Abraham Lincoln

Mother Mary Louise Kane, PBVM, (from l.), Sister James Marie Carras, PBVM, Jodie O’Connell-Pankos, and Sister Rosemary Ann Cueno, CR, help pack care packages at St. Colman’s School to send to O’Connell-Pankos’ daughter, Shayla Pullaro. (Emily Benson photo)

No matter where a child goes, a mother’s love will always reach them — even if it takes a few days to arrive.

Jodie O’Connell-Pankos, occupational therapist at St. Colman’s Home, gathered with faculty, staff and sisters from the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Sisters of the Resurrection to send some love to her daughter, Shayla Pullaro, who is on the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, stationed in the Strait of Hormuz.

On May 1, Mother Mary Louise Kane, PBVM, Sister James Marie Carras, PBVM, and Sister Rosemary Ann Cueno, CR, helped O’Connell-Pankos pack 19 boxes of care packages in the gym of St. Colman’s to send as a morale boost for Pullaro and her fellow shipmates.

St. Colman’s Home was founded by the Sisters of the Presentation in 1881. Today, the convent shares the building with the current residential and daytime autism programs.

Pullaro, who has been stationed in the Strait since January, was scheduled to come home in the coming months; instead, her stay was extended.

“I took my anger as a mom and said I need to do something good and this is what I did,” ­O’Connell-Pankos said.

Packages were filled with a plethora of snacks and supplies, from essentials like Advil, deodorant, tooth brushes and toothpaste, to fun surprises like candy, cookies and adult coloring books.

Sandy Sasso, K-2 teacher at St. Colman’s, said that when the staff heard O’Connell-Pankos was putting packages together, everyone stepped up to help donate.

Mailing the care packages is no small feat; each box costs $32 to send, and O’Connell-Pankos has already sent over a dozen boxes, packing everything at her house with her husband. In total, it cost $647 to mail.

But the sisters, St. Colman’s staff, friends, family and clients of O’Connell-Pankos have helped kick in to the cause, making monetary contributions or helping buy supplies for the packages.

“We’re like family here,” said Sasso.