Oak Harbor residents are helping a US Army MP with a simple way to make peace, at least with Iraqi kids: Give them soccer balls.

Michael Bennett was sent to Iraq last November and now he is stationed at Camp Warhorse, about 40 miles outside of Baghdad. Speaking by telephone last week, he said U.S. soldiers have plenty of candy to give to the kids, but they don’t have nearly enough soccer balls which are in big demand. Soccer is about the only thing Iraqi kids have as a healthy outlet for their energy.

Bennett said he was able to scrounge up one ball and give it to a kid, but that’s all he had.

“Sir, ball?” another child plaintively asked.

Bennett didn’t want to have to tell any more kids he didn’t have any soccer balls, so he called his wife back home in Oak Harbor and found the help he needed. Nancy and Michael were married in January, when he was enjoying a short visit home before returning to Iraq. She was thrilled to be able to do something to help her husband in Iraq, and help the children there live better lives.

Nancy Bennett called around to stores looking for donations but didn’t get any immediate help. They needed an established organization before they could get involved. So Bennett hooked up with the North Whidbey Soccer Club, a youth organization that was happy to help kids in a war zone half a world away play soccer.

“I think it’s great. The whole club is 100 percent behind it,” said Mike Thornton, a member of the Soccer Club board. At lot of Navy people in this area have been to Iraq and many are associated with local soccer programs. “A few of our board members are Navy,” Thornton said. Any time a fellow service member over there asks for help, they jump right in.

Members of the North Whidbey Soccer Club quickly gathered 20 of their extra soccer balls and prepared them for shipping. All the air was sucked out to make them easier to pack, but the club included two pumps and needles so they could be easily reinflated.

Nancy Bennett and Thornton shipped the big box of balls off from the Oak Harbor Post Office on Thursday. It’s a start, but there will be plenty more young Iraqis who want a ball.

“Soccer’s a big deal over here,” said Mike Bennett, who doesn’t play the game himself. “They’re always asking for soccer balls, so why not get them some?”

As Mike Bennett sees it, it’s one small step toward building better relations with the Iraqi people. “The adults are pretty standoffish, but the kids are friendly and always come up to us,” he said. “You start with them and work your way up.”

Nancy Bennett isn’t sure how many soccer balls she wants to send to Iraq, but it’s a lot. “They’re going to have so many soccer balls they won’t know what to do with them,” she said with a laugh.

It will take the balls a while to arrive in Iraq, but that’s no matter.

“We’ve got plenty of time to wait for them,” Michael Bennett said.