Operation Santa Bag

Welcome to our blog!

"Operation Santa Bag" is designed to spread cheer to our troops deployed overseas during the Holidays. My sister Cathy and I decided to start this project when my son was deployed to Iraq in 2007, we want our troops to know that they are not forgotten! We love our soldiers! Last year we celebrated our fourth year adopting a group, the past two years we have adopted a group from Camp Lejeune North Carolina....The care package this past year exceeded all other years! We had so many people wanting to donate not only with items to send but helped with shipping expenses, phone cards and so much more! The response from the group we adopted was awesome! They truly appreciated what we offered.

Our goal for this blog is to encouage people to continue showing support for our troops no matter where they are, and should your neighbor be part of a military family let them know how much you appreciate them for their committent to keeping us safe and for giving us the freedom we take for granted everyday!

It's getting close to the time when we start preparing for this years project, who will we adopt? We don't know yet, but this does not matter we will begin making homemade Christmas cards in June, Cathy & I will be talking nearly everyday until we meet in NY over Thanksgiving. This has become our tradition! we work deligently for about 5 months to prepare our packages! I will drive to NY and Operation Santa Bag will take over her house for almost a week! We have so much fun doing this! We celebrate Thanksgiving every year by being so Thankful for our wonderful HEROE'S

If you would like to help this year please contact us we Welcome the help!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Thank You Notes From Our Troops of The 340th PSYOP, Ft. Dix,NJ

On Tuesday November 22nd Operation Santa Bag took a road trip to Ft. Dix, NJ to deliver 88 Santa Bags to a group of Soldiers that are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan on December 20th.  My sister and I hopped in the car from her house in Elmira, NY and started our journey.  It was a long day, however it was so worth every mile.  We got to meet the 1st Sgt, and the CO of this fine group.  As we set up the Christmas Tree, and placed the bags around it, we chatted with those who had greeted us at the visitors center.  They presented me with a certificate of appreciation and wanted us to know how much they appreciated our efforts to give this group a small token of our appreciation for doing what they do everyday, keeping us here at home safe.  Yesterday Monday December 5th I came home to a stack of mail from this group!  Needless to say as I read every note I was crying with a joy that I can't explain other than it was something that I had not expected.  Thank You to everyone who participated in this years project, and again we couldn't do this without all your help!  Yes! January will start a new year, and we plan to start planning for next year's project even earlier.  We reached out to 186 troops this year, so will next year be 200-250 that will depend on how much help we can get throughout this upcoming year!  Want to help?  contact my sister Cathy or myself! Or if you would like to help expand "Operation Santa Bag to your area I will help you get started!  It's rewarding, and our troops need to hear from us!

Thank You

Pat & Cathy

No comments:

Post a Comment