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 Were you wondering why Tammy Linn, the Yavapai County Director of the United Way, found herself at the Republican Headquarters on a Tuesday morning at 9:30 am? Well, Linn had received a phone call with an offer of 105 miniature trees for the troops, and she knew just what to do with them.
Linn explained, "I'm just here on behalf of Tammy Linn and United Way because the United Way did the last packages drive with the schools and people still recognize the United Way for doing things for the troops. So, I had a gentleman call in and donate 105 Christmas trees. And I had talked to Taylor Hicks Elementary School, and the kids wrote 100 cards for the troops. By that time, because I'm part of the Republican Women's group, I got an email from Mary Williams, and I thought, why don't we merge our mailings together? After all, the Republican Women's focus is really on what it should be, it's on local troops and it's on taking care of our own."
Mary Williams is the President of the Republican Women of Prescott (RWOP), and she was delighted to accept the trees in behalf of the soldiers. Williams explained that the boxes go to soldiers who are, "...all connected to local Prescott-area people, or they're from this area. We're sending multiple boxes with goodies and boxes of Christmas trees, thanks to Bob and Sherrie Graf who donated the trees to us, we have 105 trees. We hope that when they open these, they'll just distribute them all around the camp and everybody will have a Christmas tree and some goodies.
Williams smiled broadly. "It's just a really fun thing to do, we love doing it. We have been doing this for over two years, we've done about 156 -190 boxes in the last couple years. I don't know whether this was the first Christmas mailing or not because I wasn't there then, but this is a big mailing. We normally send out about 18-20 boxes a month to our troops. This is generously supported by the women in the club."
Bev Bonifay is the Chairman of this particular activity, "We've been sending to the troops for three years. They're not all exactly Prescott boys, one of them is from West Virginia, they're relatives, and another one I got from a friend in Phoenix, a family knows them."
Bonifay told what was in the boxes, "We have lots of healthcare things, like wipes for hands and shampoos and soaps and we like to send candy, coffee, beefsticks, beef jerky, gum. Chapstick, because their lips get so dry over there, toothbrushes, toothpaste, stationery, writing things so they can send notes home, and we even put thank-you notes in most of the boxes."
"I could never get here, and this is so happy, I'll try to always be here. I thought it was for only family for a long time," said
Linda Morris came along to help for the first time. "Well, ours is adopted, Andy, he's a Marine, a third deployment, major Marine. His father passed away I think when he was 7, and his mother, one of my very best friends, I lost her 6 years ago to cancer. One of these boxes is addressed to Andy on ship, isn't that wonderful?"
But, probably the most precious items included in each box are the letters from the school kids here in Prescott. They were simple messages, but from the heart. Messages like, "Thank you for fighting for freedom," and "Stay safe, stay sharp, stay loved," and "I like the Army, thank you!"
As Williams explains, this is why the RWOP sends the boxes out every month, "We just want them to know Prescott loves them and appreciates them."
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