LITTLETON, Colo., Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Trees for Troops®, the national program that provides free, farm-grown Christmas Trees to armed forces members and their families each Christmas, is off and running for 2018, with plans to deliver more than 15,000 Christmas Trees to 67 military bases in the U.S. and overseas. Now in its fourteenth year, Trees for Troops is a program of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, working together with FedEx, American Christmas tree farmers from all across the United States, and retailers to provide the wonderful family memories of a real Christmas tree for service members.
In 2017, the Trees for Troops program reached a major milestone when it delivered its 200,000th tree! Use this link https://youtu.be/S-eFPo91wwc to see the incredible story of this special tree, harvested at the farm in New Hampshire where it was grown, loaded on to a FedEx truck by school children for delivery to the chosen family who received it along the hundreds of other trees donated by Trees for Troops to the military families at Fort Drum.
The public is invited to help support the Trees for Troops program, and each donation will help ensure Trees for Troops can provide another Christmas Tree as a token of thanks and gratitude for the sacrifices of America's service men and women and their families. Donations may be tax deductible. Trees for Troops Weekend this year will take place November 30 - December 2 at retail locations throughout the U.S. By visiting one of these designated retail locations, you can purchase a Christmas tree, write a personal message on a tree tag and load it onto a FedEx truck to be delivered the following week to a military family. To donate online or find a Trees for Troops Weekend location near you, visit http://www.treesfortroops.org. Many retail locations have a Trees for Troops collection jar at their checkout area where you can also make your donations to support this wonderful program.
This year's Trees for Troops program kicks off November 13 at Dull's Tree Farm in Thorntown, Indiana, where approximately 250 trees donated by members of the Indiana Christmas Tree Association will be collected and transported via FedEx to service members stationed overseas. In the weeks that follow, thousands of trees will be donated, collected and delivered to more than 67 military bases domestically. Trees are provided through the generosity of Christmas Tree growers, retailers and consumers across the country, with shipping provided by FedEx.
"Being involved with Trees for Troops is truly a gift that gives back," said Dick Darling, Christmas SPIRIT Foundation chairman. "It's rewarding and meaningful to everyone involved, because it gives us the opportunity to say thank you to our troops, and helps ensure military families have the kind of joyful, traditional Christmas memories that we would wish for America's heroes."
Since 2005, Trees for Troops has delivered more than 208,720 Real Christmas Trees to thankful troops and military families. Each year, thousands of trees are donated by Christmas Tree growers (through the National Christmas Tree Association, state and regional Christmas Tree associations) and consumers. FedEx and its team members generously provide shipping to more than 70 bases in the U.S. and internationally, through FedEx Express air operations and the FedEx Freight trucking network.
About the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation and Trees for Troops
The Christmas SPIRIT Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization that works to recognize and support the true spirit of Christmas for U.S. troops through the Trees for Troops® program. The foundation was established in 2005 and is among fewer than five percent of U.S. charities to be awarded the "Best in America" seal of excellence by Independent Charities of America. Trees for Troops was selected by the US Coast Guard as the recipient of the 2017 Spirit of Hope Award. To learn more, visit http://www.treesfortroops.org or call (800) 965-1653.
SOURCE Trees for Troops
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