A Box of Thin Mints Plus a New Pen Pal

National Volunteer Week found Labor Secretary Elaine Chao at Baltimore-Washington International Airport helping the USO hand out care packages to troops headed overseas. They were very appreciative, especially when they saw Girl Scout cookies, packs of gum, and playing cards in the bag. Chao, a former boss of the Peace Corps and United Way, plans to write the families of the soldiers she met. "I went," she tells us, "to give out care packages and came home with something priceless—a couple hundred new pen pals." She even shared funny stories with the troops: "I joked to one soldier that after a couple hours standing in the airport in high heels, combat boots were looking pretty comfortable."

With Anna Mulrine