For years, the Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm has participated in several programs to help bring holiday cheer to military families locally, throughout country and around the world.

Operation Evergreen is a program that was developed by the Ohio Christmas Tree Association in 1995. Since that time, growers have been collecting ornaments, garland and trees to be shipped overseas to United States military bases. The 2009 campaign began Oct. 16 and ends  Nov. 6.

School, businesses and other organizations can become collection sites for new or gently used ornaments, garland and tree stands. Items collected can also be dropped off at the Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm on Nov. 7. 

For more information, contact Julie Wiley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

On Nov. 9, collected items will be shipped to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where they will be sorted and placed in shipping boxes with the trees and sent overseas on Nov. 12. The trees sent overseas will be going to Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Iraq and Southwest Asia.

Trees for Troops is a collaboration between the National Christmas Tree Association and Fed Ex (Fed Ex provides free shipping of all trees).

The official weekend for Trees for Troops will be Dec. 4-6. A Fed Ex trailer will be on-site at the Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm where 100 trees will be donated and shipped to military bases throughout the country. Members of the community can also purchase additional trees for $50 per tree. The tree farm will also be contributing $5 from each tree purchase to the Christmas Tree Spirit Foundation to help them promote their activities.

Purchase a tree by sending a check to: Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm, 3949 Sunforest Court, Ste. 101, Toledo, OH 43623. The trees that are collected for this program will be picked up by Federal Express Monday, Dec. 7 to be transported to military families stationed at bases throughout the United States. Nationwide, the goal of this program is to deliver 15,000 trees. To date, more than 50,000 trees have been delivered throughout the country. Visit www.treesfortroops.com for more details.

In addition, the Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm will donate 50 7’ trees to military families who currently have a family member deployed overseas. Fifty free 7’ trees will also be given to military families whose family member has returned home in 2009. Deployment papers and discharge papers are required.

The 2009 Christmas tree season will be Nov. 27-Dec. 19. Visit whitehousetreefarm.com for more information.

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