Donations sought for care packages sent to troops
Nov, 18-2009 9:13 pm
By NANCY RUMP
Staff Writer
STONE HARBOR – Springers Homemade Ice Cream in Stone Harbor will open its doors for the first time this Thanksgiving week and is seeking monetary donations for Sponsor the Troops.
The ice cream parlor, located at 9420 Third Ave., plans to put out donation boxes for the cause, which recently sent 100 care packages to troops stationed overseas for the holidays. The effort to send packages to the troops was spearheaded by a local couple, Jackie and George Baldwin, of Villas.
The Baldwins have been volunteering with Sponsor the Troops for several years and teamed with Springers to raise funds to ship much-needed items to military personnel this year and last. Springers also donates money raised from the sale of its Freedom Fighter ice cream to Sponsor the Troops, Jackie Baldwin said.
“Springers has been great…giving us money to get these boxes together and donating to our cause,” she said. “It’s not an easy task, and we like to get them out to the men and women serving in the Armed Forces before the December holidays hit.”
Springers donated $5,000 for the effort, and the Baldwins were charged with ordering the supplies, packing them and shipping out the boxes. They did that this past weekend with the help of a local family that volunteered its time. There were 141 boxes packed but funding only covered the shipment of 100, Jackie said.
The Thanksgiving week drive at the ice cream parlor is to raise an additional $500 needed to ship the remaining 41 boxes.
“There was an extra cost with the order,” Jackie said. “We had all these wonderful supplies, and we thought it would take about 75 boxes to get them to the troops. It actually took 141 to get everything packed.”
The boxes included personal hygiene products, Bibles, snacks and candy. The Baldwins also made sure to include red Santa hats for the holidays and packages of greeting cards that the troops can use to send out to their families.
Boxes used to package the items were donated by the Rio Grande Post Office. Storage space to keep the items until they were packed was donated by RJ Self Storage in Rio Grande, and the American Legion in Wildwood offered its hall as a home base to put the care packages together during the weekend.
“It was a wonderful, collaborative effort on the part of the community,” Jackie said.
It took over eight hours to pack all the boxes.
Anyone wishing to donate money to send the remaining boxes can do so at Springers store. Cash and checks made payable to Sponsor the Troops will be accepted.
Springers plans to be open the week of Thanksgiving the following days and times: Wednesday from 4-8 p.m.; Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Friday from 2-10 p.m.; Saturday from 2-10 p.m. More information about store hours can be found by visiting springersicecream.com or calling 368-4631.
Nancy Rump can be e-mailed at nrump@catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
