BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. – Seven New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen joined local veterans in loading 150 Christmas trees earmarked for military bases around the country onto a truck at Ellms Tree Farm Dec. 1.
This was the 21st year that tree farmers in the area donated to the “Trees for Troops” program. The donated trees are destined for service members and their families around the country.
This year, Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters, based in Troy, and the Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing pitched in to help load the trees.
Five hundred and fifty members of the 42nd Division are deployed to the Middle East and 200 Airmen from the 109th are deployed in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the Department of War's support of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic research.
The volunteers make loading the trees easy, said Garth Ellms, owner of Ellms Family Farms.
“It goes very quick,” Ellms said. “We have a lot of troops that come in and so they work fast. FedEx rolls in, FedEx handles actually all the trucking of the trees for free throughout the entire country.”
For some volunteers, showing up was a way to pay back for receiving trees in past deployments.
“The first time I did it, it was in 2021, and it was a great experience,” said New York Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Mitchell Mihalko, a recruiter assigned to the 109th Airlift Wing. “How could I say no to an opportunity like this?”
“2022, the winter of that holiday season, I was deployed, I received a tree while I was deployed,” Mihalko said. “So to be on both ends of the spectrum, to see the start and the finished product, it made me feel like I had a duty to come back and to return the favor.”
In New York, trees will be delivered in December to military families at Fort Drum, West Point, the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and the U.S. Coast Guard Sector in New York City, along with other deliveries to 88 other military sites around the country.
Fresh-cut Christmas trees are gathered at regional farms and retail lots, then picked up by FedEx and routed through distribution centers for delivery to military bases.
The movement and the morning loadout of trees included members of the FedEx shipping team who volunteered for the Trees for Troops event.
Getting an opportunity to sign up for the event was easy for Mark Burby from FedEx, who said he has volunteered for the loadout team five times.
“I’m a veteran and I’m the senior guy,” Burby said, ensuring he has a role in the event.
“It’s about helping out other vets,” Burby said about his motivation. “I’m a vet and that’s what you think when you help out other vets.”
Since 2005, Trees for Troops has provided 326,273 Christmas Trees to military families and troops in the United States and overseas.
Military volunteers from the National Guard turn out each year to load and unload the trees, knowing they will be delivered to other military families around the country.
It is a very satisfying feeling to be part of that, Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Felix said.
“I’m happy to be here, it’s such an honor,” Felix said. “This is great support for the troops and that’s why I’m here to give my time, supporting you guys supporting us.”
“It’s a great thing you guys are doing so I want to support you guys,” she said.
Trees are expected to be delivered next week for distribution to troops and families.