New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Cub donates 2,357 stockings to deployed military
The organization has donated 23,957 stockings since the statewide program began in 2009
NEW JERSEY – During the holiday season, the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (NJSFWC) of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) donated 2,357 holiday stockings to Operation Jersey Cares and Operation Yellow Ribbon, which distributed them to servicemen and women deployed overseas, including those currently stationed in Israel and Gaza.
NJSFWC, one of the largest volunteer organizations in the state made up of over 5,800 members, collected and compiled the packages, which included games, toiletries, candy, cards, and other gifts to show appreciation for their service and bring some holiday cheer from home.
This donation is just one entry in NJSFWC’s long history of supporting troops during the holidays. In 1961, NJSFWC sent cookies to deployed personnel in Greenland and Iceland.
By 1968, a total of 4,080 boxes had been sent from this annual project and NJSFWC received special citations from the Air Defense Command each year. When the shipment of cookies was discontinued, club women continued the project by distributing cookies to local hospitals and nursing homes.
The current holiday stocking project began in 2009. At that time, NJSFWC had set a goal for 50 stockings, but far exceeded expectations by collecting over 2,000. Stockings were delivered to Wheeling, West Virginia, from where a program known as “Boatsie’s Boxes” would ship them overseas.
From 2019 onward, stockings were given to Operation Yellow Ribbon South Jersey. Individual clubs so embraced the program that in the one year when it was not done statewide due to COVID, many decided to fill stockings for local veterans.
To date, a total of 23,957 stockings have been donated during the 14 years of the statewide program.
The organization’s next major service project will be its annual Day of Service, which takes place Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the only Federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.
During the last quarter-century, the MLK Day of Service has grown, and its impact increased as more Americans embraced the idea that citizenship involves taking an active role in improving communities. This year NJSFWC will be collecting items needed for domestic violence shelters across New Jersey.
To learn more about the NJSFWC, visit www.njsfwc.org.
