For the fourth year, Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I – Pulaski) is collecting items to assist the Ladies Auxiliary and the Pulaski VFW Post 7289 in sending care packages to active military troops. Donations must be received by Nov. 18 for packages to make it in time for Christmas.
“The soldiers are sacrificing a lot for us,” Barclay said. “We figure it’s the least we can do to show them that we care.”
Local drop-off sites originally included Barclay’s office at 200 North Second St. in Fulton and Camillus Town Hall, located at 4600 West Genesee St. The assemblyman added four town hall drop-off sites to the drive on Friday, placing boxes in the towns of Lysander (8220 Loop Road, Baldwinsville), Elbridge (Route 31W, P.O. Box 568, Jordan), Marcellus (24 E. Main St., Marcellus) and Skaneateles (24 Jordan Street, Skaneateles).
Barclay hopes this will make it easier for residents of those towns to donate and show their support. Since first getting involved with the drive during the height of the Iraq War in 2007, he’s seen the number of donations decrease.
“It seems like there’s a little less focus on troops on the whole,” Barclay said.
The troops are in need of the following items:
– Handmade items, cards, cards from children, pictures from children
– Halloween candy, candy canes, individual packages of cookies/crackers, tuna and chicken kits, DVDs, CDs, puzzle books, writing paper, phone cards (AT&T works best), disposable cameras, gum
– Travel-sized hygiene products such as shampoo, soap, deodorant, baby wipes, shaving items, feminine products, nail polish, nail clippers, candles, lip balm and eye drops
– Soups and hot drinks such as tea, cocoa, instant coffee
– Power bars, granola bars, dried fruit, slim jims, beef jerky, instant soup, individual cocoa packets, powdered Gatorade, Kool-aid, individual packets of oatmeal cereal
Monetary donations for shipping are also welcome. Checks can be mailed to Pulaski VFW Post 7289, P. O. Box 151, Pulaski, NY 13142. Indicate on the bottom, “Christmas for the troops.”
