Stockings stuffed with care for troops overseas

SCOTT FRIEDMAN Emma Weatherspool, 7, of Millstone, adds another stocking to the pile that eventually totaled 291 at the Hugs From Home stuffing event at the Millstone Township Fire Department Sunday.

for Army unit in Iraq

BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP

Staff Writer

So many military men and women won't be able to make it home for the holidays.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the overall holiday spirit will therefore have to be shipped in boxes to those men and women serving overseas in Iraq and other areas. Noting how difficult it is for families and friends to be separated - especially during what is supposed to be the year's most joyous season - Hugs From Home organized its second Holidays From Home drive.

"The servicemen and women need our support, and they need to know that people think about them and care about them and pray for them," said Samantha Novotny, of Brick.

Laura Marciano (l-r), of Ocean City, Lana France, of Williamsport, Pa., and Beatrice Petrella, of Absecon, wrap presents and sign holiday cards to send to service personnel overseas.

For this year's Holidays From Home drive, the organization is sending 291 stuffed stockings to a U.S. Army unit stationed in Iraq.

On Dec. 3, some of the 495 members of Hugs From Home went to the Millstone Township Fire Department in Clarksburg to pack the stockings and get them ready for shipment overseas.

"The Millstone fire department was generous enough to donate their banquet hall so that our members could get together and all help," Novotny said.

Last year, the organization stuffed 78 stockings at Novotny's mother's house in Millstone to send to a U.S. Marine unit .

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Emma Weatherspool, 7, of Millstone, grabs a book to fill a stocking at the Hugs From Home stuffing event at the Millstone Township Fire Department on Dec. 3.

A Georgia-based representative for Arbonne International, a skin-care company in Irvine, Calif., had donated $10,000 worth of organic and nonanimal-tested hand and foot lotions for the stockings, according to Novotny.

"It was our largest donation yet," Novotny said.

The organization also received a generous contribution of travel soaps and shampoos from Fres-co System USA Inc., of Telford, Pa., she said.

In addition to the goods donated by the companies, Novotny said the members of Hugs From Home - who are located all across the United States, as well as in Germany and Australia - collected numerous other goodies to fill the stockings with, including snacks, CDs and a complete DVD library.

"Mostly the donated goods are from individual members of our organization who got together with family and friends or who collected things at their jobs," Novotny said.

When the donations began piling up, Novotny said she and Petrella looked at all the goods and knew that they would never fit into Novotny's mother's home as they did last year.

"[So] we decided to call around, and the fire department answered our call," she said. "They were wonderful and put tables out for us and helped us carry boxes."

Hugs From Home mailed out the stuffed stockings on Dec. 4. To make the holidays seem even more complete for the Army unit, Novotny said that about a month ago, the group also sent a tree to the troops, along with decorations.

Hugs From Home tries to send good tidings to troops abroad all year long. Founded in 2004, its mission is to provide servicemen and servicewomen with the much-needed support and comfort of home that mail can bring.

"Each Hugs From Home member adopts a deployed service member and writes to them on a monthly basis," Novotny said. "Many 'huggers' write weekly and send care packages to their service members, even though it is not a requirement."

Novotny said she has taken up correspondence with a man serving his third consecutive deployment in Iraq.

"I get mail from him," she said, "and I can just tell that the correspondence makes a big difference and that he really appreciates it."

Besides writing letters to troops overseas, Hugs From Home organizes many projects and fundraisers, such as writing letters to those in the military who are recovering in local hospitals and sponsoring both food and supply drives.

"As long as people are serving, we will be here for them," Novotny said. "Hopefully, in the future, our Holidays From Home drive will be even bigger."

In an effort to make sure that no one's name goes unmentioned at mail call, Hugs From Home is seeking new members to write to troops stationed overseas. For more information or to fill out an application, visit www.hugsfromhome.org.