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Mom sends last shipment of Silly String

Last October, Marcelle Shriver’s son called her from Ramadi, Iraq, and said his unit was spraying Silly String in doorways to check for trip wires connected to explosives.

A year later, she’s collected more than 120,000 cans of the toy store staple and finally found a company to ship the remaining 80,000 cans to Iraq.

Shriver said collecting was the easy part. However, finding a way to ship the aerosol cans packed with the foamy substance was a different story.

The U.S. Postal Service restricts air shipments of aerosol cans, which forced Shriver to seek help from the military or a shipping company registered to send hazardous materials.

Thom Campbell, chief strategic officer for Capacity LLC, a New Jersey-based shipping and warehousing company, read about Shriver’s Silly String cans in a news story and called to offer his company’s services.

“We have received a lot of thanks from people in the military,” he said. “By far, it’s been the most important and moving part of our participation, along with the tears in Marcelle’s eyes.”

The last palette of cans was picked up Monday from a storage unit donated after Shriver’s garage overflowed with thousands of cans sent by people and businesses from across the country.

The Silly String cans were packed and shipped to 125 Marines and soldiers throughout Iraq whose parents or loved ones contacted Shriver and requested the cans be sent to their units.

“I’m sure there are some who have had tours end and are back home,” Shriver said. “It’s disappointing it has taken so long to have the cans sent over.”

Shriver shipped 40,000 cans in January with the help of military officials at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pa., but when she requested help to send the rest, Shriver said there was no space on military transports to Iraq.

Shriver’s son, Spc. Todd Shriver, is set to return from Iraq in December. She said her son still uses the Silly String to clear rooms and detect trip wires, which are often made of floss or fishing line and extremely hard to see. Troops can spray the colorful, yet lightweight, foam, which will hang on the wires, alerting Marines and soldiers to their location.

However, due to the obstacles she has to fight through to get the cans shipped, Shriver said she will stop collecting Silly String and instead devote her time to working with a military support group.

“It has all been worth it, though, if I can save one person’s life out there,” she said.