Contacts:
Patrick White, (802) 223-3880
Kelly Loftus, Agency of Agriculture, (802) 828-3829

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

“Home for the holidays” will take on special meaning this year for the approximately 1,500 members of Vermont National Guard who will be leaving the Green Mountains shortly after Christmas for a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. Some soldiers will have only a brief visit home at Christmas between pre-deployment training and the time they leave for Afghanistan.

“This is the largest unit deployment since WWII and there will be many Vermont families impacted. The Trees for Troops program is recognition of the sacrifice that many Vermont soldiers and their families have made. A Vermont Christmas tree is a symbol of tradition and holiday spirit. We hope these trees will provide some comfort and joy to our military personnel and their families who might not be able to be together this holiday season,” said Roger Allbee, Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture. “As someone who served in the military, I know the importance first hand of having a reminder of home, especially around the holidays.”

To help make the holidays as memorable as possible, Christmas tree growers across Vermont have joined forces to contribute more than 400 trees to members of the military and their families. The effort is being organized by the New Hampshire-Vermont Christmas Tree Association, which has conducted a similar program for several years now. But with more Vermont troops being deployed this year, the program has taken on special significance and the number of trees being contributed has increased dramatically. This holiday season, 32 Christmas tree farms from every corner of Vermont are contributing to the “Trees for Troops” program.

Many of the trees will be available at choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms in Vermont; others will be delivered by FedEx to military bases out-of-state as part of the Christmas Spirit Foundation’s national “Trees for Troops” program. Across the U.S., about 15,000 Christmas trees are being donated to the military this year.

“Our hope is that this will make the holidays a little brighter, and let the members and families of the Vermont National Guard know that their friends and neighbors are there for them,” explains Jim Horst, executive director of the New Hampshire-Vermont Christmas Tree Association.

Individuals wishing to contribute financially to help support the “Trees for Troops” program can do so online via the Christmas Spirit Foundation’s Web site, www.christmasspiritfoundation.org.

CONTACT:
For questions about this release, contact

If you’re a member of the media interested in interviewing a local Christmas tree grower participating in this program, contact Bob White, Vermont “Trees for Troops” coordinator, at: 802-899-4924 (evenings), 802-899-4977 (days) or 802-777-3265 (cell).