Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq received 3,900, or 65 boxes, of homemade cookies and other treats in the past weeks for Thanksgiving from the nonprofit organization, Treat The Troops.
More than 30 volunteers brought homemade cookies and donations to The Cumming Library on Oct. 18 to help pack the treats for the soldiers. The packages also included current magazines, blank cards and postage, letters and essential items that are not easily available to the troops.
The organization was started in 1990 by Jeanette Cram of Hilton Head, S.C., after she heard that a soldier missed homemade cookies while serving abroad during the Persian Gulf War. The thought caught on and smaller groups, called Crumbs, came up around the country to help Cram fulfill soldiers’ wishes.
The sentiment reached Cumming through Debbie Hudson, a local resident who just wanted to find a way to get involved and give back.
“This was just a simple way to send a little bit of home to our troops,” said Hudson, who started the effort in 2006. “Every packing drive we have gets bigger with more volunteers and more cookies, and it’s great to see people come together to give back to our troops in this small way.”
Being a community-based effort, the need for involvement is always in demand. “We can never have too many volunteers who want to bake cookies and come join us to help pack and prepare them for shipment, but our biggest need is donations towards postage,” added Hudson. The Christmas packing drive is scheduled for Dec. 6.
The Cumming chapter has sent over 220,000 cookies adding to 2 million cookies Treat The Troops has sent since its founding.
“We receive emails telling us how much this small effort means to them or how they have not been forgotten especially around the holiday time," said volunteer Linda Jones. "It makes the effort more worthy and we are glad we can do our little part to send them a piece of home."
To get involved with Treat The Troops, contact Linda Jones at lktjones@bellsouth.net
In Other News: During its many grand opening events, Market Street Café, in Buckhead, raised and donated $2,200 to Special Olympics Georgia on Oct. 13. Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by promoting understanding, acceptance and inclusion between people with and without intellectual disabilities.
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