On January 14th, Leesylvania State Park held an event to make care packages for soldiers to show our appreciation for all that they do.
We had 35 people, active military, civilians, children, and retired military, come out to donate items and volunteer their time to box the goodies. We had a student group, the Military Pride Club, lend us a hand in supporting the troops. These students are military dependents or the children of parents serving in other areas of government that require moves and deployment.
We set a goal of 50 boxes, but were pleasantly surprised that two hours had gone by and we had filled 100 boxes with goodies for our service members. We put in books, cookies, snacks, pen and paper, wet wipes, hand warmers, hot chocolate, puzzles, playing cards, etc. The children made cards with a personal message of “Thank you” to send along in each box.
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I was overwhelmed with all the donations, the time spent on making the boxes with goodies, and the volunteers that wanted to keep on giving and went out and purchased more items for the boxes during the event. It is truly a blessing that Leesylvania has all these wonderful volunteers that want to help out.
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After this weekend the boxes will be dropped off at Operation Home Front, who will send these care packages overseas. This is a small token of appreciation for all service members that we hope will bring a little piece of home to them. We look forward to working with our amazing volunteers to brighten the day of some of our deployed heroes in the future.
LOCATION: Leesylvania State Park is in the southeast area of Prince William County, about 25 miles from Washington, D.C., and Fredericksburg. From I-95, take Rippon Landing Exit 156, then go east on Dale Blvd. to U.S. 1. Jefferson Davis Hwy. Turn right on Jefferson Davis Hwy., and then turn left onto Neabsco Rd. (Route 610) east for about two miles.
Drive Time: Northern Virginia, half an hour; Richmond, one and a half hours; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, two and a half hours; Roanoke, four hours
For more information please contact the Visitor Center at 703-583-6904 or email at [email protected]