Air Force Capt. Eric Baroni has a heart for kids.

As a military physician assistant on a temporary humanitarian assignment in Honduras in 2006, Baroni, a Vicksburg native, helped plan and carry out game days for orphans. Kids with too few opportunities to play, swim, picnic and have a carefree day were treated to just that by U.S. servicemen.

Deployed to Afghanistan on another temporary assignment in June, Baroni, his commander and others stationed at Forward Operating Base Rushmore in Paktika Province, about 100 miles from Kabul, held a similar day of fun and food recently for 26 Afghan boys who have lost one or both parents.

This time, they took it a step further. Borrowing an idea from Franklin Graham’s Operation Christmas Child, the well-known “shoebox” ministry that provides gifts to needy children all over the world, Baroni and the men at FOB Rushmore also handed out colorful, wrapped boxes of toys, toiletries and treats.

“This project really came about from my desire to make the lives of these children better in some small way,” Baroni wrote in an e-mail from Afghanistan. “As a Christian, I certainly hope I live my life in such a way that people can see Christ through me, and in a country where that is not quite the common belief (or) thought, I hope that through my actions, a seed will be planted that will ignite the love of Christ in this country.”

Getting the shoeboxes required help.

Baroni, 36, enlisted his parents, Tom and Jonnie Baroni of Vicksburg, in the effort.

“It sort of threw me into a panic,” Tom Baroni laughed. “I thought, ‘Who would I ask?’” He started with St. Michael Catholic Church, where the family has worshipped for years. For an act of giving and service, it was natural to begin there.

“Eric grew up in the church,” Tom Baroni said. “He played clarinet for the church choir. He and his brother, Mark, went to Sunday school there.”

St. Michael’s parishioners enthusiastically embraced the project, his father said, filling 114 shoeboxes, donating nine additional boxes “of just stuff” — soccer balls and basketballs, candy, boxes of cookies — and more than $1,300 to help with shipping costs.

“The response was tremendous,” said the Rev. P.J. Curley, St. Michael’s pastor. He gave a lot of credit to the elder Baroni. “Tom was really the instigator of all of this. He talked to people at Mass, and the shoe boxes started coming in filled with stuff, ready to go.”

Crawford Street United Methodist Church’s Friendship Sunday school class also got word of the collection, and donated 16 boxes and $225, Tom Baroni said.

Eric Baroni also created a Facebook page to publicize the effort, and friends from Hawaii, Oklahoma and other areas contributed. A total of 186 shoeboxes was received from 10 different states.

On the morning of Sept. 26, the Afghan boys, ages 5 to 12, were loaded into the back of police trucks and driven to the base.

“Eric is the medical guy for a very small clinic there,” Tom Baroni explained. “It’s in a very dangerous area, and they cannot leave without prior planning and wearing complete flack gear. So the national police brought the kids there.”

The boxes were handed out at the close of a day that featured an obstacle course, plank walks, basketball and other activities; a cookout with burgers, hot dogs and chicken; and a session where the boys were taught basic daily hygiene. The Afghan police participated, all working to build a rapport among the boys, officers and U.S. military.

Eric Baroni said it was important to the servicemen that the boys see them without all their combat gear on, and one of the generals in the Afghan National Army was so pleased with the project, he wants to continue to hold similar events in the future.

Because of Vicksburg’s generosity and that of others who sent shoeboxes, there are plenty left over for future play days, Tom Baroni said.

A project like that is a way of “doing what Jesus told us,” Curley said. “The Scriptures are continually and constantly calling on people to attend to the needs of the dispossessed.”

Back home, Eric Baroni’s wife, Whitney, a pharmacist, and daughters Emerson, 6, and Macie, 3, are staying in Petal with Whitney’s parents until his assignment in Afghanistan is up in December. “My primary role here is to take care of the soldiers on the FOB where I am assigned, but I also mentor the Afghan National Army medical team on a regular basis,.” Eric Baroni wrote.

After his deployment there he’ll return to Hawaii, finish his tour of duty there and await his next assignment, where his family will rejoin him.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com