Special delivery: Ohio-grown Christmas trees and handcrafted decorations, packaged tightly in pine-scented boxes, are on their way to bring the warmth of home to some of Ohio’s military personnel deployed abroad this holiday season, delivering a touch of Christmas spirit to the Middle East.
Since 1995, a collaborative effort led by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Christmas Tree Association has collected pine trees, bags of homemade ornaments made by schoolchildren, churches and veterans’ organizations, along with handwritten cards from Ohio residents to send to service members overseas.
Now in its 29th year, their special, annual mission known as Operation Evergreen has returned once again to warm the hearts of those who are unable to be with their families for the holidays, as well as the hearts of the volunteers who make it possible.
“Soldiers are kind of putting their lives on the line. And they’re away from family, so kind of the best thing we can do for them is bring Christmas to them,” said high school student and FFA member Cecelia Gabole.
The annual wrapping and packing event is a high point for volunteers including 4-H and FFA groups, students, veterans — some of whom were among the recipients of an Ohio tree in the past while stationed abroad themselves — families of service members and just about anybody else who wanted to lend a hand.
They gathered on ODA’s Reynoldsburg campus on a frigid November morning to cheerily wrap, load and pack everything up, taking breaks to sip on hot cocoa while listening to Bing Crosby and other favorite holiday crooners in the background.
“It’s just a great event,” Brian Baldridge, director of the ODA, told Farm and Dairy. “It is tough as our troops are serving away from their families during the Christmas season, because this is the time that we come together as families. So it’s nice that we can send a little Christmas cheer.”
Taste of home
The process of preparing the packages for military units begins with local Christmas tree growers from across Ohio donating carefully selected trees small enough to fit in a 10-inch-by-10-foot box. The trees, 100 in all, were all inspected to certify they were free from pests and disease before being packed and sent to the country of Jordan.
“The important thing is that we are sending a taste of home to the military,” said Valerie Graham of the Ohio Christmas Tree Association. “They’re giving us freedoms. And we’re able to send a little touch of Christmas tree spirit from Ohio over to them.”
The organization accepts homemade ornaments and donations year-round from individuals, organizations and businesses to help maintain the initiative and keep it sustainable. Financial support is crucial to Operation Evergreen’s continued success, particularly in covering the high shipping costs that have reduced the number of trees they can send each year.
“It used to be that we shipped 300 trees,” Graham said, adding that it costs about $200 to ship each package.
Aside from the trees and decorations, every package provides a tangible connection to home that service members may not otherwise be able to receive anytime soon. Volunteers such as Deborah Ashenhurst, director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, said she was proud to know these efforts bring a piece of home to soldiers stationed in foreign, often challenging environments.
“It really warms my heart because, you know, when you’re over there — and you know you’ve got to be there, but you know your family’s at home celebrating — just to have a little something that reminds you of home is really super,” Ashenhurst said. “It’s heartwarming, it’s tender.”
For many recipients, the trees are much more than decorations: They are a reminder that they are remembered and appreciated by those back home.
“Sometimes it (may) bring on a few tears, sometimes a little homesickness, but it’s absolutely worth it,” she said. “Anything we can do to make our service members know that we’re thinking of them during the holidays is worthwhile.”
For service members, each tree serves as a reminder that they are missed, honored and part of the holiday celebrations that make this season bright.
According to Amy Galehouse, a coordinator with Operation Evergreen since 1999, the tradition has spread to many bases and reached thousands of service members from Kosovo to Afghanistan. Galehouse has seen the impact firsthand through thank-you letters and photos received from military personnel, who can return messages to card writers and volunteers with photos of their units alongside the decorated trees.
Years ago, she received a letter in gratitude written by a young man from a family of 13 who was posted overseas to Bosnia in a two-man unit, spending his first Christmas away from home in a foreign country with an Ohio Christmas tree.
“And so we got this little letter saying, ‘It’s so nice. It’s like being home with my parents.’ They’re the kind of letters that make you cry when you read them. But you get those all the time,” she said.
Those interested in supporting Operation Evergreen can donate funds through the OCTA’s website or participate in community service projects creating ornaments or writing letters. Find out more information online.
