BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. -- Many argue that the holiday season officially begins Black Friday, the shopping frenzy immediately after Thanksgiving.
But for more than two dozen volunteers of the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia, New York, the holiday spirit really kicked in on Giving Tuesday, November 29, when they turned out at Ellms Tree Farm to load Christmas Trees bound for military families.
For many of the Airmen previously deployed during the holiday season, the impact of donated Christmas trees is uplifting.
"One year, I was deployed overseas and flew from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Iraq and Afghanistan to retrieve patients there," said flight medic Master Sgt. Jennifer Dippo. "We were gone for the entire holiday season. I was gone for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But just getting cheer from home and having that passed on to us was a huge blessing that lifted our spirits."
The effort was part of the nationwide Trees for Troops initiative, and Chip Ellms of Ellms Family Farm has been supporting the program since it began in 2005.
'We feel it's small but the impact is huge," Ellms said to the group before loading some 130 trees. The donated trees are bound for the National Guard armory in Statesboro, Georgia, home of the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
The trees were also packed with holiday decorations and greetings, courtesy of Sally Ellms coordination with local children from the Burnt Hills- Hills-Ballston Lake elementary and middle schools.
Nationwide, Trees for Troops expects to deliver about 18,000 Christmas Trees to military personnel and families at some 65 installations and forward operating bases in the U.S. and around the world.
On hand for the shipment of trees was FedEx member Chis Goodrich, who served six years in the Navy and received a tree on base during his own time deployed to the Persian Gulf.
"It makes you get that touch of home," Goodrich said. "You understand that there's other things in life besides where you are that you want to get back to."