Christmas trees to be sent to U.S. soldiers

The SBC Pioneers, a service organization composed of SBC retirees and employees, will collect donations of nonperishable goods for a Christmas tree project until Aug. 22.
SBC Pioneers will decorate 2,005 Christmas trees with nonperishable goods and send them to U.S. soldiers overseas. More than 1,000 decorated trees are still needed to complete the project.
The Pioneers request donations of nonperishable comfort items such as toothbrushes, tea, chewing gum, magazines, hard candy and Kleenex to decorate the 2-foot-tall artificial trees, which will be donated to the local United Service Organization by Sept. 1.
The USO will give the gifts to military chaplains, who will distribute them to the soldiers.
The Pioneers started the project in 2003, sending 85 trees to soldiers. Last year, the organization sent 630 trees overseas.
Nursery schools, churches, nursing homes and local neighborhood stores such as Home Depot contribute to the project.
Interested donors can contact Cliff Winter at (440) 257-4444 or e-mail him at cwinter@ncweb.com.