Sending Holiday Cheer to Troops Overseas

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Oct. 23, 2015 - PRLog -- The YMCA of Orange County is partnering with Words of Comfort, Hope and Promise (a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) serving those in the U.S. Armed Forces and their families) and all of the Starbucks stores in the Huntington Beach area to bring some holiday cheer to our military families. The holiday season can be a difficult time for our troops overseas and their families, so with the help and support of the community, the YMCA and Starbucks will collect as many donations as possible to send our troops a taste of home during this Christmas season!

Jasmina Muller, a volunteer at the Peterson Elementary YMCA, started this tradition back in 2006 when her husband was deployed to the border in San Diego with the Border patrol agents. She wanted to provide him and other service members a nice Thanksgiving dinner since they were away from home and started Stockings for the Troops through donations. “Times have changed since we were little. These days a lot of kids expect to get things, rather than see what others need.  I have always taught my children, they have a roof over their head, they get dinner every night so they are lucky.  Imagine not having basic things in life and then imagine the service members, fighting for what we have, to have the freedom of just doing anything.  To stuff some stockings to give them ‘a little piece of home’….it’s priceless! I love watching the smiles and laughter that this service projects brings to the kids and our troops”.

All of the YMCA Child Care sites will carry on this tradition Jasmina started almost 10 years ago and will be collecting donations for the troops and making care packages to send oversees. Donations will be accepted at any YMCA childcare site from October 13^th to November 19^th.  Starbucks throughout Orange County will be supporting the project again this year.  Managers from many Starbucks OC locations will come together on November 11th, 2015 – Veteran’s Day, at their district meeting to stuff stockings from their store collections to send overseas with the YMCAOC collections.  “Starbucks believes in giving back to the community and has a great history of supporting Veteran’s, so we are very excited to get involved with the YMCA in support of this community project”, says Lacey Price, District Manager for Starbucks.

See pictures from last year’s Stocking for the Troops, where kids and volunteers were hard at work stuffing the stockings, click here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876710945693173.1073741997.193191140711827&type=1&l=114e389d4f

Troops receiving the stockings:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.531329556897982.118651.193191140711827&type=3

Drop off your donations at any YMCA Child Care sites or any Starbucks® locations in Huntington Beach! Click here for locations of YMCA childcare sites: www.ymcaoc.org/asc

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ABOUT YMCAOC: At the Y, strengthening community is our cause. With a focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, the Y serves Orange County through six (7) Health & Wellness centers (Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Yorba Linda, and Huntington Beach) and over 50 Afterschool Program centers. YMCA programs celebrate and honor common values of respect, responsibility, honesty, and caring by infusing character development into the foundation and practice of all our programs; from youth sports and group exercise classes to parent/child programs and community services– Y programs build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. The YMCA of Orange County is a nonprofit, charitable organization that serves the entire community. Donations support our scholarship program and Our Promise – To strive to keep programs open for all. Whether you are looking to get fit, give back, or meet new friends, the Y has something for you! JOIN PLAY GIVE VOLUNTEER www.ymcaoc.org