‘Operation Holiday Cheer’ kicks off
WARWICK — Being stationed thousands of miles from home during the holiday season can prove to be a challenging task for Rhode Island’s men and women in service. But to hear U.S. Army Lt. Matthew Schultz tell it, there’s one item that makes him feel like he’s back in the Ocean State, regardless of where he is stationed and defending our freedom.
Coffee syrup. “Deployments are tough … especially during the holidays,” the Providence resident said. “You’re away from your families for extended periods of time. Just to receive a little package with a taste of home, it really is special and it can’t compare. Coffee syrup, which is always enjoyable, just a little taste of home is really, really special … It just drives home the sentiment that we are about team here in Rhode Island.”
Schultz is one of the thousands of Rhode Island natives who’ve received care packages while stationed away from home during the holidays as part of the past 16 editions of Operation Holiday Cheer. On Tuesday morning, he was among those who kicked off the drive toward the 17th annual Operation Holiday Cheer, a seasonal initiative to ship care packages to local veterans and service members who can’t be home with family and loved ones during the holiday season.
“I can’t tell you how much it means to all of those serving overseas,” said Schultz, who was away from home during the holidays while he was deployed in 2017 and 2018.
Each year, since the program was founded 17 years ago, contributions are collected from across the state and hundreds of volunteers unite to assemble care packages for shipment on a single weekend in November.
In the last four years, they’ve raised $42,000 from corporate sponsors and more than 1,200 volunteers have worked tirelessly collecting donations and assembling the care packages in a human assembly line. All told, nearly 1,400 care packages have been sent to troops and local veterans during that time.
Last year, Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee – who leads the charge for Operation Holiday Cheer – launched a partnership to distribute excess care packages to local veterans through the non-profit Operation Stand Down Rhode Island, which helps veterans with housing, employment, and education. The partnership was sparked by a decrease in the number of Rhode Island deployments and due to continued low deployment numbers, Operation Holiday Cheer will distribute approximately 300 care packages to both veterans and deployed troops this year.
“If we can actually help those veterans that are here in Rhode Island, we want to do that in any way that we can,” McKee said. “So we expect that a good amount of packages will be sent to Operation Stand Down.”
Operation Holiday Cheer is organized by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in partnership with the Rhode Island National Guard’s Family Assistance Center, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Rhode Island chapter of the American Red Cross.
McKee said there are three ways for the general public to contribute to Operation Holiday Cheer, each of which will help to make this year’s edition yet another successful endeavor:
• Donate items to fill care packages or make monetary donations. More information and a list of items sought is available on the Office of the Lieutenant Governor’s website ( www.ltgov.ri.gov/ohc)
• Volunteer to assemble care packages during the sorting weekend at the National Guard Armory on Airport Road in Warwick. Donations of care package items will be accepted and sorted on Saturday, Nov. 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Volunteers will assemble packages on Sunday, Nov. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., also at the Armory.
• Communicate the names of servicemen and servicewomen to ensure all of Rhode Island’s heroes are celebrated during the holidays. To ensure a loved one receives a care package, e-mail ltgov@ltgov. ri.gov or call 401-222-2371.
Rhode Island National Guard Maj. Gen. Christopher Callahan said he was “very deeply appreciative of the work,” as it has been “a very steady drumbeat” of deployments, with just under 500 Rhode Islanders deployed in four- to six-month increments.
“It’s a quiet service, a service that we are really appreciative of the fact that you don’t forget about our team,” Callahan said.
Warwick Mayor Joseph Solomon, whose city has played host to the care package sorting and assembly weekends, noted that the city stands as partners, “not just from government, military, but the business community, families within our state, the service members that devote all their time to protecting this great country that we live in.”
“There are many sacrifices that we endure … The only way this works is truly a partnership and a devotion of love to our community. That is why the United States of America is the greatest country in the world,” Solomon added.
Erik Wallin, the executive director of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island, meanwhile, noted that while some of the veterans served by Operation Holiday Cheer may be far from home, they are close in the hearts of those who love them.
And as a native Rhode Islander, Wallin was quick to point out that while there’s no place like home for the holidays, a taste of home can be equally as sweet.
“There’s no doubt veterans both young and old absolutely love that coffee syrup,” he said.