An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Nov. 30, 2023

New York Guard Soldiers Support Trees for Troops

By Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther, New York National Guard

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. – Ten Army National Guard Soldiers from New York’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion volunteered to help send 131 Christmas trees from a Saratoga County tree farm to military families at bases in Virginia and Florida.

The Guard recruiters joined 30 other volunteers at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa, New York, Nov. 28 to load trees donated to the Trees for Troops program on board a truck and dispatch them for shipment by FedEx.

New York Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Derrick Zwack said he volunteered because he remembered how seeing a Christmas tree while he was deployed had cheered him up.

“When you are overseas, your fellow Soldiers become like a second family, but you still miss your family back home,” Zwack said. “These trees give us a sense of home when we are away for the holidays.”

Ellms Tree Farm, a family Christmas season destination for families throughout the Albany region, has been a collection site for trees for 19 years.

Owner Sally Ellms said she is amazed by the generosity of the local growers.

“When I checked a week ago, we had about 30 trees stacked on the trailer,” Ellms said. “So, I made some phone calls to thank and remind our growers and in our final week, we had another hundred donated.”

Trees for Troops is a national program launched in 2005 by the Christmas Spirit Foundation, and with the help of FedEx, it has delivered more than 293,500 trees. Fresh-cut trees are gathered at farm and retail lots, picked up by FedEx and routed through distribution centers for delivery to 84 military bases this holiday season.

This year’s trees from the Albany region are going to a Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, and an Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. In previous years, trees have gone to bases in Afghanistan.

Volunteers helping this year included veterans representing all service branches from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Gulf War, the Cold War and the Vietnam War.

Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Moseman said it’s all about giving back.

“It’s a great day when we gather these Soldiers together and load the trees onto the truck,” Moseman said. “With so many service members sacrificing time with their families for the holidays, it feels awesome to do this for them and remind them of how much we care.”

 

 

Related Articles
Swedish Army Lt. Col. Fredrik Mansson, the chief of operations for the Swedish 1st Division Headquarters, speaks with an officer of the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division during the division’s Warfighter exercise at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 3, 2025. Mansson and other Swedish leaders were visiting the exercise to learn from the New York Guardsmen. From Sept. 16-23, 2025, New York National Guard operations experts will be in Sweden helping Mansson and their other Swedish counterparts conduct their first-ever division-level command post exercise.
New York Guard to Help Sweden With Division-Level Command Post Exercise
By Eric Durr, | Sept. 5, 2025
LATHAM, New York - Six New York Army National Guard officers and an Air Guard master sergeant are heading to Sweden to help the Swedish Army’s 1st Division conduct its first-ever division staff command post exercise.Before...

New York Army National Guard 1st Lt. Michael Catalano, the executive officer of the 37th Finance Company, and the Disbursing Agent, disburses training funds to his cashiers at the beginning of the business day allowing them to perform transactions for the day during Exercise Diamond Saber in July at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The two-week long finance training exercise enables finance Soldiers to spend a week operating as they would when deployed.
N.Y. Army Guard Finance Soldiers Sharpen Skills During Diamond Saber Exercise
By Eric Durr, | Aug. 5, 2025
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. - One hundred and fifty members of the New York Army National Guard’s 27th Battalion spent July 12 to 26 sharpening their field finance skills during exercise Diamond Saber 2025.The Army...

Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division and their family members fill the Empire State Convention Center in Albany during a farewell ceremony held on June 1, 2025. Five hundred Soldiers assigned to the division headquarters are deploying to the Central Command area of operations for ten months later this summer.
500 Soldiers from New York's 42nd Infantry Division Deploying
By Eric Durr, | June 3, 2025
GARDEN CITY, New York – Five hundred New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division were saluted on June 1 as they prepared to depart for an overseas deployment.Ceremonies...