Gifts for Gi’s is a group of everyday people; students, clubs, corporate donors .No one takes a salary from Gifts for GIs and 100% of donations are used to make up & ship the “care packages”.
Gifts for GIs is an organization dedicated to generating community interest, support and participation in events that demonstrate support for our deployed service men, women & their families in an effort to let our troops know that they are not forgotten and that their sacrifice is appreciated.
In 2006 an ordinary exchange between a bartender & a customer marked the starting point for what has become an active not for profit charity. Dan Greco, of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, was tending bar when a patron spoke to him about his feelings of sadness and concern for his child. The man’s young son, a marine, had recently been deployed to Iraq and with the holidays approaching the man’s feelings just grew worse. Dan was so moved by their discussion that he felt he had to do something. It was this conversation that gave him the inspiration for “Gift’s for GIs”.
He called on family & friends asking for items that could be shipped to this man’s son. When all was said & done, seventeen cartons were shipped in time to arrive for the holidays. What resulted, although no one realized it at the time, was the very first “Gifts for GIs” event.
Gifts for GIs is an organization dedicated to generating community interest, support and participation in events that demonstrate support for our deployed service men, women & their families. This is done in an effort to let our troops know that they are not forgotten and that their sacrifice is appreciated
As time went on, and more holiday events followed, the core volunteer group believed that American troops needed to know that they were thought of more then once a year. “Our troops receive a lot of attention and packages during the holiday season; however we often forget to say thank you during the rest of the year. Hopefully these events, though they may be small, will show our troops we appreciate them all year long.”, Dan is quoted as saying. In 2011, the board for “Gifts for GIs” voted unanimously to expand their effort to assure our troops that they are not forgotten and that their service and sacrifice is acknowledged and appreciated. To that end, the organization now holds additional drives to coincide with every patriotic holiday providing year round support for our military.
These events are supported by volunteers; everyday men, women and children, organizations and clubs (corporate & civic) who realize that the freedom we enjoy as Americans does not come with out a price. For example, local schools and Girl Scout troops have participated using these events to satisfy their community service requirements.
Since that long ago exchange, “Gifts for GIs” has grown into a fully recognized 501c, non profit organization. Each event exceeded the previous one both in the number of soldiers who received gifts as well as the numbers of boxes shipped. More then one hundred and thirty boxes were shipped to twenty one service men & woman during the 2010 holidays. Memorial Day 2011 marks the first in what will be a series of shipments throughout the year. Any donors who wish to see first hand the benefit of their efforts may visit the organization’s face book page. All letters, emails and pictures received from the troops are posted & available for all to see and in an effort to generate additional support.