JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va., Dec. 11, 2019 —
As soon as that delicious turkey dinner was put to rest it was official: Christmas was here.
For the Joint Base Langley-Eustis community in Virginia, this meant the Christmas spirit would arrive – the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, that is.
U.S. service members walked back and forth, carrying tightly wrapped evergreen trees from a shipping truck to Bethel Park and Schultz Plaza at JBLE, Dec. 6 and 9, 2019.
Due to the amount of tree farms decreasing every year, tree prices have increased.
Through the Trees for Troops program, the CSF provides free, donated farm-grown Christmas trees to armed forces members in all branches of the military and their families, as well as retirees and Department of Defense civilian employees.
“I saw [the event] on Facebook and thought, ‘this is so nice that they thought of us,’” said Toni Dayton, wife of U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Melbourn Dayton. “Now the money that wasn’t spent on the tree can go towards something else, like gifts for the kids or other volunteer efforts like an animal shelter.”
Families flowed up and down the rows of trees, searching for the one that would be gleefully decorated in their homes.
All trees donated were adorned with written notes from families who donated to the tree farms, wishing service members and their families a happy holiday season.
“We’ve been overseas for the past 12 years, so this is going to be the first time for us to have a real Christmas tree as a family,” said U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Brett Lynch, 480th Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Wing project manager. “This makes a big difference for us.”
For Trees for Troops, the holiday season is a time to spend with family and friends, and for them, it is also about giving back to the community. Whether donating trees or just helping families carry their trees back to their vehicles, the Trees for Troops program provides that opportunity.
“It’s a great program,” said Ike McCann, Bethel Park manager. “Through the years I’ve heard different things, a few minutes ago a gentleman told me his son wanted a live tree because they never had one before. That alone makes it all worthwhile.”
Since 2005, Trees for Troops has provided more than 225,319 Christmas trees to families in all branches of the military at more than 70 bases in the U.S. and overseas. Just in 2018, Trees for Troops delivered 16,599 farm-grown Christmas Trees. These were donated by roughly 450 Christmas-tree growers, retailers and their customers in 25 states. Donations were received through individual farms, the collective efforts of state and regional Christmas-tree associations, and Trees for Troops weekend.