Seven New York National Guard soldiers and airmen joined local veterans Dec. 1 to load 150 Christmas trees onto a truck at Ellms Family Christmas Tree Farm in Ballston Spa, New York.
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, New York, and the Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing, Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, New York, pitched in to help load the trees.
Five hundred and fifty members of the 42nd Infantry Division are deployed to the Middle East and 200 airmen assigned to the 109th are deployed in support of Operation Deep Freeze, a National Science Foundation research mission in Antarctica.
The volunteers made loading the trees easy, said Garth Ellms, owner of the Ellms Family Farm.
"We have a lot of troops that come in and so they work fast," Ellms said. "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 the past.
"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, [and] 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 and processed through distribution centers for delivery to military bases.
The movement and the morning load out of trees included members of the FedEx shipping team who volunteered to be part of the Trees for Troops event.
Getting an opportunity to sign up for the event was easy for Mark Burby, a FedEx employee who said he has volunteered to be on the load-out team five times.
"I'm a veteran, and I'm the senior guy," Burby said. "It's about helping 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.
It is a very satisfying feeling to be part of that, said Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Felix.
"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."
Trees are expected to be delivered to military bases next week for distribution.