Operation S.E.N.D. Christmas comes to Wall Recreation

This year, Wall Recreation will be participating in Operation S.E.N.D. Christmas 2009, a project organized by Military Missions, Inc., that collects holiday cards and ships them to service men and women overseas.

“Wall Recreation will be collecting holiday cards for the troops, made by [residents], to remind our service men and women that they are not forgotten around the holiday season, or ever,” Wall Recreation director Edward Grill said.

Military Missions is an organization based out of Lexington, Ky., that sends care packages to military men and women overseas. Beth Pennington, a Marine’s mother, began the project after meeting with some of her son's fellow Marines in November 2004.

She realized she wanted to keep in touch with all of them as they deployed, and the project grew into the larger effort of sending care packages to military men and women all around the world.

Each year, Military Missions runs Operation S.E.N.D. Christmas to ship out large quantities of holiday cards to both individuals and units stationed overseas.

Mr. Grill said that cards made by area residents can take any form. They can be basic drawings, pictures, custom art, thank you letters, or any other form of a holiday card.

Cards should be mailed in to, or dropped off at, the Wall Recreation Department by Nov. 20. There, a local member of a military branch will personally pick up the cards, which will be sent to Lexington.

From Lexington, the cards will be flown overseas to military men and women everywhere.

For more information, please visit www.wallnj.com, or call the Wall Recreation Department at 732-449-8444 ext. 250. Cards can be dropped off at, or mailed to, Wall Recreation, 2700 Allaire Road, Wall, 07719.