Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need

By Tonya K. Townsell (The Presidio of Monterey)November 24, 2009

Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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Organization reaches out to make Thanksgiving a celebration for local military families in need
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PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - For the past 20 years members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 549, Monterey Bay, have been gathering before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to put together holiday packages for local families of veterans and deployed service members.

This year was no exception when some 30 volunteers assembled 80 packages at the California National Guard Armory in Seaside Nov. 24.

The baskets, which included such items as turkeys, bread, stuffing, cranberry sauce and sparkling cider, will find warm welcomes in the homes of local families who would otherwise be hard-pressed to cover their Thanksgiving-celebration meals this year, said chapter president Arthur Garbizo, who has been with the holiday-package project since its inception.

After the group completes the packing, 20 of the baskets will go to the Presidio of Monterey Army Community Service where they will be filtered to local military families. Then another 12 baskets will go to the California Employee Development Department, according to Nora Avendano from the agency.

She said that, unfortunately, because of the bad state of the economy, it was too easy to come up with candidates for this year's gift baskets.

"They would call me and ask 'I'm getting a basket this year, right''" she said explaining how strongly some families are depending upon the baskets to make their Thanksgiving a true celebration.

Avendano was not the only one who easily found recipients for the baskets.

Garbizo said that members network to find suitable candidates; even his minister brought forward a request from a family in need. The baskets left after ACS and the Employee Development Department will be provided to those individual families, he explained.

This year, more than past years, it was not only the recipients who are enriched by the gift packages. According to his daughter, it was against his family's wishes that Garbizo attended the Nov. 24 event. She said that amongst other health concerns, the blind, double amputee who suffers from diabetes had recently gone through open-heart surgery and spent nearly a month in intensive care.

Perhaps that is why it was so important to Garbizo, who spent nearly 28 years as an enlisted man, to preside over this one last holiday-package event before turning over his duties.

"I realize I just can't do it anymore," Garbizo said referring to having such an active role in the organizing of the baskets as well serving as president.

Garbizo and his fellow chapter members said they invite anyone eligible to join the organization, which, as one member emphasized, desperately needs younger people because the youngest current member is 60.

The only major stipulation is that membership in the organization is limited to service members who were injured in combat, said Garbizo, who is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

For membership information or to donate to support the holiday-package program, e-mail jfgjr@msn.com or gpitman@pacbell.net.

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