For the many soldiers who are unable to spend time with their families this holiday season, a package from home can be a godsend, even if it’s from a stranger.
For the ninth year in a row, the Operation Adopt a Soldier program in Saratoga County is asking for special holiday donations to help service members enjoy the comforts of home while stationed overseas.
“This time of the year, the community support is wonderful and everyone remembers our troops,” said organization Co-chairwoman Terri Perry. “It’s great.”
Perry and co-chairman Cliff Seguin Jr. formed two operations separately in 2003 when their sons were deployed. When one found out what the other was doing, they joined forces later that year.
“They’re both home now and out of the service we still have admiration for the troops and it’s an honor to just keep doing what we do,” said Perry. “It’s a priority that’s in our hearts.”
Although the project takes donations for care packages all year long, the amount of donations jumps dramatically during the holiday season. This year on a day in mid-November, 182 shoebox-sized care packages were donated by a local elementary school and ladies church group.
Besides care package essentials like toiletries, snacks, stationary and reading material, the group asks for special donations like holiday candy, decorations, cookies, hot cocoa and even fake Christmas trees.
“Really, anything to boost morale and let them know we appreciate them,” said Perry.
Each year the group sets aside $1,000 to buy as many Christmas trees as possible with all of the trimmings. Other trees are donated. They are then sent to a commanding officer to set up for a whole base to enjoy. The same goes for any Hanukkah decorations that are donated.
“Once in a while someone will donate Hanukkah stuff, but we don’t get a lot of it,” said Perry. “I think it would be nice to get more, since there’s probably a lot more Jewish soldiers out there than we think about.”
The program operates off of applied grants and donations, both monetary and object-based. After the donated items are packaged – usually by groups of volunteers at the organization’s facility in Gansevoort – they are shipped to the Department of Defense in New York City, which then sees to it the packages get to specific bases and soldiers.
“We never know exact addresses,” explained Perry.
The cost of shipping packages downstate totals anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000 each month. Perry believes the organization spends nearly $60,000 on shipping annually, reaching about 2,000 service members. Most packages are then sent on to bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the government pays for.
New this year to the organization’s website is a place for service members to provide their information to have care packages sent to them. So far the service has been popular.
Perry said the organization has about 500 soldiers on its list to send packages to for the holidays and one to four are signing up on the website each day. Recently a group of 140 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan added their names to the list.
Sometimes soldiers request specific objects and the organization does their best to accommodate their needs, like last year when a soldier asked for a pop-up tent. This year one service member asked for new combat boots.
“We have a Facebook page, so we put the special requests on the page hoping people will see it and help out,” said Perry.
She said each year the service members are extremely appreciative and they have books filled with letters of appreciation.
“They can’t believe they got a package from a complete stranger. They’re grateful and it’s heartwarming,” she said.
To learn more visit www.operationadoptasoldier.org
Drop-off sites in Saratoga County include:
-Ballston Spa Community Library
323 Charlton Road, Ballston Spa
-Business Products
Rt. 9, Clifton Park
-Capitaland Home Improvements
1712 Route 9, Halfmoon
-Clifton Park Town Hall
1 Town Plaza, Clifton Park
-Charlton Town Hall
758 Charlton Rd., Ballston Lake
-Halfmoon Town Hall
2 Halfmoon Town Plaza, Halfmoon
-Main Center USA of Clifton Park
641 Grooms Rd., Clifton Park
-Saratoga County Clerks Office
40 McMaster St., Ballston Spa
-St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
148 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs
-The office of Dr. Vincent Schutelli
Wells Street, Saratoga Springs
-Operation Adopt a Soldier
16 New Britain Drive, Gansevoort