Shock and Awe!

The title of this article says it all! Shock and awe are the only words that can be used to describe yesterday's Holiday Stockings for Soldiers event at Exeter High School cafeteria with their Key Club!

We have had people tell us they have a lot of stuff to pack and we get 75 care packages done. That is a good number. We have had people say they have a lot of stuff and we get 150 care packages made. That is a big number. When the Key Club told us they had a lot of stuff they REALLY meant a lot of stuff!

Over 25,300 items were collected by this patriotic and spirited group! Yes you read that correctly....25,300 plus items!! We stuffed over 500 stockings and have enough to stuff 300 to 400 more!

These incredibly energetic students started collecting items about a month ago. They got permission from the school to send flyers home with the elementary students, sent flyers to local churches and some even had their parents take the flyers to work. Their efforts paid off big time.

The result was one of the most incredibly wonderful things I have ever seen. We had to make two extra stocking runs and bought every stocking we could find. Thanks to the people at Dollar Tree in Shelbourne Square Shopping Center for their help and letting us take the stockings by the case. We still need 300 to 400 more stockings. We hope some of those being made will come in the mail this week so we can finish packing.

The items were sorted onto tables and it took almost every table in that cafeteria to hold everything. The photos will give you some small idea of what it looked like. You can see the pictures on www.keystonesoldiers.com or click the story title and it will take you there. After working for over 6 hours we were out of stockings and just over half done packing.

Thanks to all the students and faculty at Exeter School District, all the churches involved, Reading Hospital and Medical Center, the volunteers from the 28th Finance Bn (who drove all the way from Harrisburg!), John Welter (Vietnam veteran), Shannon H. (wife of a soldier), Channel 69 WFMZ and anyone else I may have missed here.

We still need some donations for postage to make sure ALL the stockings get delivered on time to those serving our country. You can help by clicking the Paypal button on the website or mail a check or money order to: Keystone Soldiers PO Box 152 Fleetwood, Pa 19522-0152.

There will be some very happy troops thanks to all of these wonderful, caring people.

Lordzmom