Dear Home in Henderson Readers:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community of Henderson for the donations that were provided for the distribution to the soldiers in this year’s “Operation Soldiers Christmas”. Though the initial donations were lacking, in the last days of the promotion we did receive enough items to mail to the soldiers and provide them with a taste of home during this time away from their families.
Many businesses offered us a place to put our drop boxes or items for our raffle, and for that we are very thankful. The Daily Dispatch and WIZS Radio provided us with an outreach thru their readers and listeners that we also are thankful for, and a BIG Thank You to Phil Hart at DataForge for his work on making our new website www.operationsoldiers.org such a success. Thanks also go out to the businesses and individuals that provided the necessary funds to mail our 23 boxes thru the local US Post Office. We have received confirmation that all the boxes have arrived now at the Basrah, Iraq airstrip that the Heavy Combat Support Troops are assigned to. Maybe you only bought a raffle ticket, or gave a bag of candy, or opened your business to us, PLEASE know that it means a great deal to the soldiers we send our donation to.
A special thanks to the students at Eaton-Johnson Middle School, who were pen pals to some of the soldiers. Another special thanks to the art students of Aycock Elementary and Zeb-Vance Elementary for the beautiful handmade ornaments that we were able to send to the soldiers. Many of the ornaments included pictures and notes from the students that made them so very special to send.
As another year of the “Operation Soldiers Christmas” comes to an end, I extend my gratitude to the community of Henderson for your support of our American troops overseas.
Marianne Miller,
Coordinator, “Operation Soldiers Christmas”