Group sends 4,335 gifts to
soldiers of 173rd Airborne
A Christmas gift drive to benefit soldiers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, currently serving in Kirkuk, Iraq, was an unqualified success, according to organizers.
Remember the Heroes for the Holidays, which collected gifts at four Monmouth County locations last weekend, has shipped 55 boxes containing more than 4,000 gifts to the brigade’s base in Vicenza, Italy, where it will be broken up into individual gift packages for soldiers and then shipped to Iraq by U.S. military transport.
The group, Remember the Heroes for the Holidays, is a coalition of business professionals, charities, service organizations and volunteers who determined to provide some holiday cheer for soldiers serving in Iraq. Among the other gift donations received during the weekend were more than 400 boxes of macaroni and cheese, nearly 300 cans of tuna, hundreds of snack and food items, as well as DVD movies, CD music and games, magazines, socks, gloves, toiletries and 2,000 decks of playing cards. The gifts should arrive on the ground in Iraq a few days before Christmas.
Volunteers with the organization covered most of the delivery and shipping costs, but some shipping cost donations are still needed. Monetary donations may be made directly to the shipping account at: Post Mark Plus, Remember the Heroes During the Holidays #212, Route 34, Matawan, NJ 07747.
For more information, call Gerald D’Ambra at (732) 765-1296.