Organizers Give A Big 'Thank You' To All Who Opened Hearts to Vets Spending Holidays Far From Home

SOUTHOLD, NY — Boxes of pure love will be making their way from the North Fork to servicemen and women stationed overseas for the holidays — all thanks to two huge-hearted volunteers and the community that came together to help.

Patty Hocker and Claire Kennedy, who recently embarked upon their third annual holiday collection for serviceman and women overseas, had a big "thank you" Tuesday for the many who came together to make the effort a success.

"Claire Kennedy and I would like to thank everyone for their generous donations to our Collection for the Deployed Servicemen and Women for the holidays," she said. "As I was picking up donations yesterday people were handing me money to make sure we had enough to ship all the boxes. We live in an amazingly generous community and we couldn't have done this without all their support."

"It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to do this for the troops," Kennedy said. "It’s the least we can do considering how much they sacrifice for all Americans, especially around the holidays when they are away from their family and friends.”

Kennedy added, "We would not be able to do this without the help and generosity of our community. Everyone knows how important it is to give back to our local servicemen and women who are currently deployed overseas.”

The efforts to spread the love will continue next season, Kennedy said.

“Patty and I will continue to do this collection again next year for yet another local military unit. It brings us together as a community while we rally behind our troops," she said.

The Southold American Legion Griswold-Terry-Glover Post 803 Ladies Auxiliary and members donated the space at the Legion and helped pack boxes along with community members, Hocker said.

Approximately 75 boxes were shipped from the Peconic post office Tuesday and are headed to a United States Army unit in Kuwait.

"It's the time of year where we should all be thankful for our blessings. This is our chance to do something for the deployed troops so they know how thankful we are for their service," Hocker said.

As the climate overseas is both hot and cold, donations of all kinds were requested, and collected, including:

• gift cards for Amazon, Ebay, Google Play, etc.,
• powdered drink mixes/packets
• protein bars, snacks — such as small, hard containers of chips, pretzels, and nuts
• gum
• toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss
• cotton swabs,
• shaving lotion,
• disposable razors
• shampoo
• individually packaged tissues
• body wash/soap
• individually packaged baby wipes
• sunscreen
• lip balm, cards
• cotton socks and underwear
• eye drops
• lip balm
• lotion
• aspirin /pain reliever
• feminine products
• snack zip lock bags
• hand warmers
• foot care
• word games and puzzles
• batteries
• writing materials

Thanks were also given to Wendy's Deli in Mattituck, the Southold Pharmacy and North Fork Real Estate in Cutchogue, which offered drop-off locations, and staffers Frank and Ed at the post office, Hocker said.

Photos courtesy of Patty Hocker.