Twas two nights before Christmas and all through the land Project Help volunteers were working hand in hand to spread comfort and joy with donations of warm coats, clothing and toys.
Project Help Santa Bus was preparing to leave to bring our brave veterans all that they need.
For weeks Project Help volunteers worked to raise funds and collect toys and winter apparel for our military men and women and their families. And thanks to the generosity of hundreds of grateful people Operation Santa Claus was a huge success.
On Dec. 19 the bus was filled with toys and games before it arrived at the Stanhope School. There, veteran families enjoyed a Christmas Party and the Center for Prevention’s Military Families Night Out.
When dinner was done and the parents had filled huge bags of toys for their children there was still a ton of toys remaining. So the toys were loaded back on the bus before it headed back to the storage location in Newton.
Bright and early the next morning, the team showed up to load the bus with mountains of men’s winter clothes. The Project Help elves, complete with their Santa hats, hopped on the bus to make their deliveries.
First stop was the Hope for Vets transitional housing location on the Lyons VA campus. “With the help of some staffers we off loaded at least 75 large bags of winter clothing, many new winter coats, shoes, all types of outerwear, jeans, sweaters, hoodies and toiletries”, said Sandy Mitchell, Executive Director of Project Help. Toys were distributed as well.
The next stop was the women’s ward to deliver the bulk of the toys. There were so many toys, they had to call the East Orange VA to come and pick up half of them. The women in this unit have kids who would have gotten nothing for Christmas.
Oh, what a joyous day!
Then off they went to the Goryeb Pediatric Cancer Center at Morristown hospital, where another mountain of toys were offloaded and put under the tree in the lobby where the kids would come to get toys on Christmas.
Santa’s Elves were, Jeremy Curcio USMC retired and VP of Project Help, Karl Broton of Broton Contracting, a faithful volunteer, Judie McFarland, retired nurse and soon to be board member of Project Help and Sandy Mitchell, Executive Director of Project Help.
Next year will be even bigger and the bus will be dressed for the occasion…perhaps even a red nose on the hood.
They all shared a meal and talked about how wonderful the day was, knowing how they made a real difference in the lives of hundreds of men, women and children this holiday season.
If you would like to be part of events like this, please call Project Help at 973-875-2068 office or 862-266-9726 cell.
Project Help is and all volunteer, tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit serving veterans in NJ and FL.