U.S. troops around the world received some sweet treats thanks to VFW members in California. Members of Post 5059 and its Ladies Auxiliary in Turlock spent a day packing boxes of candy and other items to send to deployed troops. Together with volunteers from American Legion Post 88, Legion Riders 88 and Sons of Legionnaires 88, they packed and shipped over 100 boxes. The candy, donated by See’s Candy, ranged from lollipops and licorice to hard candy of every flavor. The volunteers also packed magazines and notes of appreciation from VFW and American Legion members.
“This was our second time packing and shipping candy donated by See’s Candy,” said Post 5059 Quartermaster, Roger Van Tassel. “The first time we packed and shipped 126 boxes of See’s chocolate candy. This time 141 boxes of various kinds of candy were packed and shipped,” he continued. It proved to be an all-day event. According to Van Tassel, it took 2 ½ hours to pack the boxes and another four hours to address all of the shipping labels. Not that the volunteers minded. In fact, they received a pleasant surprise from Afghanistan for their hard work. Members of Bagram Air Base sent the volunteers a thank-you gift—a U.S. flag that had flown over their base.
VFW Post 5059 is already looking forward to the next batch of candy to send. “We hope to have another donation of candy within the next six months, so we can pack and ship some more,” said Van Tassel. In the meantime, his Post will host a dinner fundraiser to help with shipping costs for the next packages they send to troops overseas.