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Servicemembers and their families will receive a free Christmas tree just in time for the holiday season at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Dec. 7.
The program was started by the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation in 2005 and provides free, farm-grown Christmas trees to service members of all branches and their families. For the 19th year, FedEx partnered with the foundation to deliver nearly 15,000 trees to over 80 military bases across the country.
This will be the third year Quantico has participated in Trees for Troops. A total of 70 trees were supplied last year to the base by Christmas tree farms from all over the East Coast, with the largest shipment coming from Maine.
More than 293,000 trees have been provided to troops and military families in the U.S. and overseas through Trees for Troops. Thousands of trees are donated by American farm families and the public, and FedEx delivers these trees to more than 70 military bases, logging more than 800,000 miles for the Trees for Troops program. This year, Trees for Troops is delivering to 93 military bases across all military branches.
In 2012, Trees for Troops was honored at the White House as a top 20 national finalist in the Joining Forces Community Challenge, an initiative started by then first lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to recognize organizations that provide exemplary service and support to military families.
Registered families can pick up their fresh-cut Christmas trees donated by Trees for Troops at the Main Exchange parking lot at 3500 Russell Road. Trees not picked up by 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 will be released to the public.
