Photo By Sgt. Ginnie Lee | Jeff Weller, center operations and program coordinator for the United Service...... read more read more
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For nearly a decade, Atlantic Marine Corps Communities (AMCC) has hosted its Home for the Holidays event to donate toys to families on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Due to COVID-19, this was the first year the event was conducted as a drive-thru event.
“Since we are unable to host our usual in-person activities due to the pandemic,” said John Giltz, project director for AMCC, “our AMCC team came together to find a creative way to help our residents safely enjoy a bit of the magic that comes with the holiday season.”
AMCC partnered with the United Service Organizations (USO), Harris Teeter and Operation Homefront to hand out more than 500 gift bags to well-deserving children. The event brought out Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Grinch and elves. Attendees also enjoyed a visit from the Camp Lejeune Police and Fire departments, as well as Military Police personnel who brought their four-legged friends along for the festivities.
“I am grateful for our team’s commitment and the dedication of all of our partners and volunteers,” Glitz said. “They made this event so special, despite the curveball COVID-19 threw our way.”
According to Valeria Tucker, a community services manager with AMCC, over 600 families participated in 2019. Since the venue changed, only 375 families registered to attend and over 100 families were on a waitlist. For an expected 400 families, around 500 gift bags were made.
“We understand it has been a challenging year and now more than ever it is important for us to celebrate and give back to our dedicated service members and their families,” said Staci Burton, marketing manager with Lendlease. “As many of our service members may not be able to travel home for the holidays, we hope through this event we can help bring a little joy to their holiday season.”
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2020 16:49 |
| Story ID: | 385141 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Atlantic Marine Corps Communities, USO spread holiday cheer with holiday drive-thru, by LCpl Isaiah Gomez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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