FORT BENNING, Ga., (Dec. 3, 2014) -- For the 10th year, active-duty Soldiers and Family members can take their pick of one of the 850 anticipated live Christmas trees to be given away at Wetherby Field between 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Dec. 10, thanks to the Trees for Troops program.
The Fort Benning Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation warn that supplies are limited. Soldiers will be on site to help load the trees on to or in vehicles.
Soldiers not in uniform and Family members must present proper identification to receive a tree.
Trees for Troops, a program of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, provides free, farm-grown Christmas trees to members in all branches of the military and their Families, through donations, sponsorships, grants and the work of many volunteers.
"Trees for Troops is all about trying to do something nice for a military Family; it's taking that little bit of financial stress on them off, and ensuring they can still have a really nice Christmas," said Amanda Reitz, DFMWR, Outdoor Recreation and Special Events program manager.
Reitz said the event is made possible by the Christmas Tree Foundation, which gets the trees from the farms and plantations, and FedEx, who transport them.
The trees are adorned with decorated tags and special notes of appreciation to military Families receiving the trees, written by children across the country.
"It's really, really cool," Reitz said. "People actually keep them (tags) from year-to-year and use them as ornaments."
Reitz said the Trees for Troops program is experiencing a shortage in donations this year and is seeking help from the public.
"They're really hoping that people will go on their website and donate toward buying a tree for somebody," Reitz said. "They're really struggling this year, financially, on even meeting their requests from all the installations."
According to www.treesfortroops.org, since 2005, more than 139,000 free, farm-grown Christmas Trees have been provided to troops and military Families in the United States and overseas through Trees for Troops.
"Christmas trees are expensive and it's something you don't really think about, but it's nice to have," Reitz said. "It's one thing that a military Family doesn't have to worry about the cost of."
For information, call 706-545-9636, visit www.benningmrw.com or visit their Facebook page at BenningFMWRfans.
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