Donations from across the area will be shipping out Monday to meet the 203rd Engineering Battalion in Afghanistan as Operation Santa hits the road.
Elementary schools had students hand-craft cards. People donated lip balm, snacks and sometimes they too would bring a note.
The team expected to pack 320 stockings and fill four big general boxes with larger items: gloves, batteries and anti-fog spray.
There are approximately 200 “local” soldiers who will receive the stockings, but the donations will stretch and provide for all the deployed members of the 203rd.
After packing all the boxes, they will fill out a customs form for each. Monday morning, the boxes will head to the post office and on to Afghanistan. The unit commander will distribute the stockings once they arrive.
While their efforts won’t reach every local soldier stationed away from home, reaching out to members of the National Guard is symbolic of their wish for all soldiers to have some Christmas cheer from home.
“The support has been phenomenal,” said McDonald County Sheriff Robert Evenson who co-coordinated the project.
Pineville, Mo. —
