Volunteers pass a tree to New York Army National Guard Spc. Matthew Clark, a recruiting assistant assigned to the 466th Area Support Medical Company, onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops loadup event in Ballston Spa, New York, November 28, 2023. The event has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 donated trees to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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Volunteers and New York National Guard Soldiers load trees onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops event in Ballston Spa, New York Nov 28. The event, which has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 trees which will make their way to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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Volunteers pass a tree to New York Army National Guard Sgt. Jordan Simpson, a recruiter assigned to Company B, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, and Pfc. Jaydon Hickey, a recruiting assistant assigned to the 206th Military Police Company, onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops loadup event in Ballston Spa, New York, November 28, 2023. The event has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 donated trees to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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Volunteers prepare donated trees for loading to New York Army National Guard recruiters onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops loadup event in Ballston Spa, New York, November 28, 2023. The event has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 donated trees to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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Volunteers prepare donated trees for loading to New York Army National Guard recruiters onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops loadup event in Ballston Spa, New York, November 28, 2023. The event has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 donated trees to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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Volunteers pass a tree to New York Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Moseman, a recruiter assigned to Company B, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, onto a FedEx truck during the annual Trees for Troops loadup event in Ballston Spa, New York, November 28, 2023. The event has been hosted at Ellms Tree Farm for the last 19 years, sent 131 donated trees to military installations around the world for the holidays, including Fort Drum, Fort Hamilton, and West Point here in New York. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther.
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BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. – Ten Army National Guard Soldiers from New York’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion volunteered their time on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, to help send 131 Christmas trees from a Saratoga County tree farm to military families at bases in Virginia and Florida.
The Guard recruiters joined 30 other volunteers at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa, New York, to load trees donated to the Trees for Troops program on board a truck and dispatch them for shipment by FedEx.
New York Army National Guard Sgt. First Class Derrick Zwack said he volunteered to help because he remembered how seeing a Christmas tree while he was deployed had cheered him up.
“When you are overseas, your fellow Soldiers become like a second family, but you still miss your family back home,” Zwack said. “These trees give us a sense of home when we are away for the holidays.”
Ellms Tree Farm, a family Christmas season destination for families throughout the Albany region, has served as a collection site for trees for 19 years.
Owner Sally Ellms said that she is always amazed by the generosity of the local growers.
“When I checked a week ago, we had about 30 trees stacked on the trailer,” Ellms said. “So, I made some phone calls to thank and remind our growers and in our final week, we had another hundred donated.”
Trees for Troops, a national program, was launched in 2005 by the Christmas Spirit Foundation, and with the help of FedEx, delivered more than 4,300 Christmas Trees to five U.S. military bases in its initial year, and up to 2022 had shipped a total of 293,392 trees.
This year will see us go past a third of a million donated trees, said Garth Ellms, who now runs the family farm.
Fresh cut Christmas trees are gathered at farm and retail lots before pick up by Trees for Troops partner FedEx, and routed through distribution centers for delivery to 84 military bases this holiday season.
This year’s trees from the Capital Region are going to a Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia and an Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. In previous years, Ellms said trees have gone to overseas bases in Afghanistan.
This year saw a wide array of volunteers, including veterans representing all service branches from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Gulf War, Cold War and Vietnam War.
The veterans were also joined by New York State Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh and volunteers from the Association of the United States Army. Even one of the FedEx drivers was a Marine Corps veteran.
Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Moseman said it’s all about giving back.
“It’s a great day when we gather these Soldiers together and load the trees onto the truck,” Moseman said. “With so many service members sacrificing time with their families for the holidays, it feels awesome to do this for them and remind them of how much we care.”
Loading the trees is an unofficial start to the holiday season, Sally Ellms said.
“This is my favorite part of Christmas. It’s so appreciated (by) people who wouldn’t otherwise have trees,” she said.
