Hundreds of volunteers filled a New Britain Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Thanksgiving night to wrap holiday gifts for troops stationed overseas as part of a “Giving Back to Our Troops” night hosted by the Berlin-based non-profit Hero Boxes.
Active-duty soldiers were on hand passing out 400 care packages filled with some creature comforts like cookies and candy, and essentials like fresh socks, foot powder, and wet wipes that can be sorely needed at remote desert stations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Cotton buds commonly used to clean rifles are packed as well.
“Nothing like this is given to them. If they want extra treats and things like that, they have to purchase them,” said Karen Cote, who founded Hero Boxes in 2015 after her son Nicholas was deployed to Kuwait. She sent her first hundred Hero Boxes to his company. Since then, her small army of volunteers has assembled boxes every Thanksgiving.
Nicholas Cote returned home in the spring. Along with a dozen other veterans, he sealed and labeled the packages his friends were once so grateful to accept.
“When you’re that far away, sometimes you feel forgotten. Sometimes you feel like you don’t matter,” he said.
Veteran Paul Trigila brought six members of his family from Newington to help, teaching his grandson Ryan it can be better to give than receive. His favorite part?
“Thinking that the troops will open this and be like oh my gosh,” the nine year-old said.
Local
With so many hands making quick work of the packaging, the boxes were assembled at relatively little cost, but shipping them is an entirely different matter. The organization expects to pay at least $12,000 to get the boxes to the men and women they are meant for.
With enough donated funds and man-power, the organization hopes the Hero Boxes will arrive just in time for the holidays. Drawings, cards, and pictures of the families that packed them will be sitting right at the top of each one as reminders of their gratitude.
Hero Boxes has a wish list of items for purchase and they accept financial donations on their website HeroBoxes.org
