Some of the stories from Trees for Troops recipients.

Read through some of these, and it's easy to see why this is a labor of love for all involved. It's such a worthwhile endeavor. Thanks to all who donated.



Trees for Troops
My Story E-mails 2009


From: Emily Miller
To: info@christmasspiritfoundation.org
Subject: Thank you

Thank you so much Trees for Troops and Glove Hollow Farm at Fort Knox, KY. We appreciate your donation and your continual support for soldiers and their families. It is very encouraging that you care.

Sgt. Justin Miller, Emily and Davis
Fort Knox, KY


From: Erin Bill
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank you!

To whom it may concern:

Please thank all your sponsors and contributors on our behalf this year for their amazing generosity. My husband and I just got married this summer; he is active duty Air Force and we are stationed in the cold north here at Ellsworth Air Force Base. This morning after he got home from working the midnight shift, we were able to drive across base and pick up a beautiful tree for FREE. I can't believe it! What a wonderful gift. Our dog and cat have been exploring the tree all morning, and I'm adding lights and ornaments. It has been a busy and sometimes stressful year, and this gift of a Christmas tree just makes me smile all over...it is just what we needed.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Erin and Jeff Bill
28th Maintenance Squadron
Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota


From: Sabbatino, Lisa Mr DoD Ben
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: trees for troops

I just want to say thank you for donating the trees to military families. I know that my family greatly appreciates it. My husband has had to miss many holidays, birthdays, and many other special events over the years. Its never gets any easier. But we do the best we can to cope. I picked up my tree today at Ft.Carson, and it is one of the most beautiful trees my family has had. I just want to say thank you for thinking of us. We really do appreciate it.
Lisa Sabbatino


From: Jared & Rochelle Laskey
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank you!

I just wanted to express my thanks for the beautiful Christmas tree we received at Camp Lejeune today. Having a live tree will make this Christmas all the more special, particularly since it's the first one we get to spend with my husband in three years. Thank you for your generosity and God bless you! Rochelle Laskey, wife of Cpl. Laskey (USMC)


From: Jennifer Molina
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank You!

First of all, I want to say Thank you, thank you so much for the tree. I love it so much. We have never had a real tree before. My husband and I have been married for 6 years and never had a real tree because it was too expensive. Here is our story. My husband is currently in Iraq waiting to come home. His flight keeps getting canceled. This christmas is very important to us because he will meet his 4 month old son for the first time. Our Daughter Aliyah keeps counting the days till she can be with daddy and watch cartoons together again. This is our first deployment and it has been hard, but it has kept us all strong. I attached a picture of the tree next to our fireplace. It is not decorated because we are hoping daddy will be home soon to help us decorate. One again thank you so much for giving us a tree and making our christmas alot more jolly. Jennifer Molina(785) 579-6927 "When you feel like giving up,remember why you held on for so long in the first place"



From: ewoods999@
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank you Trees for Troops

Thanks to all the organization's and employees that made Trees for Troops possible this year.

My husband and I appreciate the beautiful tree provided us this year at Fort Lewis. The money we didn't spend on a tree went to buying food for junior enlisted soldiers and their families for their christmas dinner. Because of your gift we were able to pay it forward.

Thanks again for our tree and may all of you enjoy a joyous and safe holiday season.

Best regards,

Bill and Liz Moore
Washington


From: "MR. R BROWNING"
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank you

I just wanted to thank your organization so much for our tree. Money was a bit tight this year and getting a free tree made things somewhat easier. Our son is leaving in mid- January for Fort Bragg and then he's going to Afghanistan. This gesture made our holiday so much brighter. Thank you so much.
Hoping you had a Merry Christmas

Peace to everyone in the New Year,
Margaret Browning


To Whom It May Concern:

Hello and Happy Holidays to you all. My name is Britt Heinbaugh Ross and I am a thankful recipient of a tree from the Trees for Troops program. We just love our tree, and had great fun decorating it as well. This is our daughter Olivia’s first Christmas that she’s really aware of things and comes in each morning to where the tree is displayed to say, “ohhhh!” Great memories for us, those memories you helped bring out by your wonderful generosity to the Trees for Troops program. We are especially grateful this holiday season as my husband Chaplain Jeff Ross aka “Dada” is not here with us but serving in Iraq. Having the tree easily accessible for me through this program was just another task that I did not have to endure alone with a toddler. So again, I thank you very, very much. This program means a great deal too many here on Camp Pendleton, that I have personally talked with and have casually met while waiting in line for the tree.

Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year!

All our best,

Britt and Olivia Ross


From: Tanya
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Thank you

Dear FedEx & the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation,
I wanted to thank you so much for the free tree that I received in December 2008. I am a Marine wife on Camp Pendleton and it was an extremely hard year for me. My husband was deployment to Iraq from January 2008 to May 2008. He found out a week before Christmas 2007 that he had to go back. Then when he came home in May 2008, he received orders to report to Okinawa Japan in August 2008. He has always loved real Christmas trees (I always had an artificial tree) so picking out the Christmas tree was always a big deal to him and my 2 girls. This year was the first year that I had to pick out the tree by myself. Thankful your organization made this an easy task for me. The trees were big and beautiful. The whole event brought me to tears. I must have hugged 10-20 FedEx workers who were on hand - they must have thought I was nuts! I wanted them all to know how much this meant to me and my girls. Everything has a happy ending - I found out that day (12/5) that my husband would be able to come home for Christmas. That tree stood in my livingroom from 12/5 thru 12/23 undecorated waiting for him to come home. I watered it everyday so that it would last until he came and it did!

I just wanted to all to know that your kindness, dedication and generosity was greatly appreciated. My family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts. Please see attached picture of the decorated tree.Sincerely,
Tanya Foreman
USMC WifeCamp Pendleton CA


From: Vesper Bitle
To: mystory@treesfortroops.org
Subject: Christmas tree

Thank you so much for making our Christmas special!!
My husband is deployed and so I thought we would just get an artificial tree. I saw the trees for troops program and signed up for it, but didn't know if there would be enough trees. Well I went out and bought an artificial tree and then received a call that there were plenty of real Christmas trees. We went to look to see what we could find...my 9 year old found the perfect tree!!! Needless to say, we returned the artificial one (which was a big help) and we set up our tree that we received from trees for troops. It was a challenge being my first time doing that alone, but in the end it worked out and we had many wonderful surprises with the tree. We actually found a little birds nest inside & added it to the tree as an ornament. Our three boys were thrilled with it all...as you can see the happy faces in our pictures!!! Here is a before decorating, after decorating and photos of our three sons for you. Again, thank you for making it a very special Christmas!!
God bless you,
Vesper, Nicholas, Taryl & Toby Bitle