On December 1, Bethlehem Elementary students and volunteers loaded up 400 Christmas trees to send to service members and their families down south as part of the Trees for Troops program.

Trees for Troops, a program of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, provides free, farm-grown Christmas Trees to United States armed forces members in all branches of the military and their families, through donations, sponsorships, grants and the work of many volunteers. Since 2005, 276,791 free, farm-grown Christmas Trees have been provided to troops and military families in the United States and overseas through Trees for Troops. Thousands of trees are donated by American farm families and the public, and FedEx delivers these trees to more than 70 military bases in the U.S. and overseas. FedEx has logged more than 800,000 ground miles for the Trees for Troops program.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year's NH/VT program possible: Bethlehem Elementary School students and teachers, Rocks volunteers, local tree farmers who donated trees across New Hampshire and Vermont, and local businesses, including Littleton Chevrolet. 

We're also grateful to the Forest Society Business Members that donated Christmas trees:

• BCM Environmental Land & Law PLLC
• Merrimack County Savings Bank
• Seaboard Intl. Forest Products, LLC
• Zambon Brothers Logging

On hand as a part of the festivities were Commissioner Shawn Jasper, NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food; Gail McWilliam Jellie, Director of the Division of Agricultural Development; and Chuck Henderson, Special Assistant for Policy and Projects to U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

Just a week later, we received a note from one of the families who received a Christmas tree.

The Nunnery family reached out to express their gratitude:

"Your beautiful tree reached us in Savannah, GA at Hunter Army Airfield... my husband has served our country for just over 7 years and this is our 3rd duty station. He is a UH-60 mechanic (Blackhawks) and an active crew chief. We share three beautiful kids together (pictured)."

And, the Hobbs family wrote:

"My very grateful family wanted to let you know that your beautiful trees made their way down to Savannah, Georgia! Specifically to Hunter Army Airfield. A beautiful base tucked into a beautiful city. These trees are given away to families of soldiers from E-1 to E-6. Every year this program is very meaningful but it especially means a lot this year with all that’s gone on in the world and with our economy. You’ve made so many people smile today."

We thank our soldiers and their families for their service and sacrifice and are happy to help them celebrate a merry Christmas!