By Judie Donaldson

I recall a number of years ago when my friend Karen called to request a favor.  Her father had died that morning, and she called to ask me to pass along a message to our friends. The message? She requested that we each honor her father’s life by living life––by doing something we had never done before. I went out and ran 15 miles! It was such a different way to deal with loss.
It’s years later now, and I’ve just met a wonderful Benicia woman, Nina Eusebio, who took yet a different action in response to loss. Karen’s approach was one that benefitted her friends as individuals. Nina’s action has had an impact in the world.  Let me tell you her story. I think that you’ll be as inspired as I am. I believe that her experience is relevant to those of us in Carquinez Village.
Nina was born and raised across the bridge in Martinez. As a young adult, she had one child, Perry, whom she raised as a single parent. She wanted to provide Perry with a positive and stable environment in which to grow up and chose Benicia to provide the setting.
Perry went through the Benicia school system and, despite the fact that he was highly intelligent, he didn’t see the value in college. Instead, he enlisted in the Army where he built an exceptional track record. He had one of the highest scores achieved on his entrance test and excelled in boot camp. In short, he was a model soldier, and he was so proud to be protecting his country. Both Perry and Nina felt that they had become a part of the military family.
Within a year, Perry was shipped out to Afghanistan where he was deployed to the bombs, IUDs, and artillery of the Kandahar region. He learned two things right away––about the horror of war and that our troops were inadequately supported. He wrote home asking his mother to send food because the Army had reduced their rations.
It didn’t take much for Nina to act. She was not simply concerned about Perry. She wanted to help his whole unit, and that’s what she did. She started a food drive. It didn’t matter that she had never done anything like this before. She placed posters everywhere. She had a booth at the Farmers Market. She approached businesses for donations. She put containers to collect food around town. Using her own funds, she sent boxes and boxes and boxes of food to Perry’s chaplain who distributed them to troops on the front line.  Nina had essentially established her own “air lift” to Afghanistan!
Little did she know that it would prepare her for the future. Unfortunately, in the meantime, Perry was experiencing the harsh realities of war. In an accident caused by PTSD, he passed away after his deployment in Afghanistan. It was 2013. He was only 23. A promising life was cut short, and Nina had lost her only son. It is hard to imagine the grief and loss that she endured.
With the help of military counseling, Nina spent the next year grieving trying to find a way forward.   Eventually, out of her pain came an answer. To honor Perry’s life, she vowed that she would do everything possible to help other soldiers whom Perry considered his brothers and sisters. She formed a nonprofit and named it Project Perry. She took this on while holding down a full-time job. Nina’s priority was to uncover needs that weren’t being met by the military or other nonprofit organizations. That wasn’t hard. There were plenty of needs.
Nina learned that when unmarried soldiers return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan the military may not even have sheets available for their beds in the  barracks. She couldn’t imagine this. So, she did something about it. As much as possible, Project Perry outfits each room with sheets, towels, wash cloths, toiletries ––and a Starbucks gift card for a good cup of coffee!
That is just one of many services. A visit to Project Perry’s website –– projperry.org ––will give you an idea of the array of items that Project Perry collects and distributes.   Nina fills and sends hygiene, food, morale, and welcome home packages. She supports and visits wounded military who are sent to Travis Air Force Base. She supplies items to Fisher Houses, residences on military bases that provide emergency housing to families of our troops. The list goes on and on.
Nina has come a long way from her first food drive. She has a board of directors.  She has volunteers. She collaborates with other organizations. There’s one thing that hasn’t changed, however: her passion and her big heart. Can you guess what she wants to do when she retires?  To give all of her time to Project Perry!
You may be wondering why I wrote about Nina today. She’s not even old enough to be a Carquinez Village member! But, she knows something about loss, and those of us in the final stage of life are going to be encountering loss. I believe that we can help one another deal with loss by sharing our lives. It isn’t that any of us will do exactly as Nina did.    But, she teaches us about the importance of finding a way to honor those we lose. She teaches us to think big. She teaches us by how she channeled her grief through giving and caring for others.  Thank you, Nina. You’re a locale heroine making a difference in the world.

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