FedEx Delivers the Holidays to Armed Forces

The Christmas tree is a symbol of the season. For service members stationed away from loved ones over the holidays, a Christmas tree and care pack delivery bring memories of home and messages of thanks. With that in mind, FedEx has joined forces with the United Service Organizations (USO) to provide care packs for service members deployed overseas, and with the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation to deliver Christmas trees through the Trees for Troops program. 

For FedEx, the care packs, holiday boxes and Trees for Troops program provide a way to give back to those who devote their lives to serving this country. Through FedEx Cares, the company’s global giving platform, employee volunteers assembled 6,000 USO care packs and 75 holiday boxes with decorations for 11,000 service members and their families during the Holiday Packing Day on Oct. 4 in Memphis. They also signed banners and wrote holiday messages on tags that will be attached to fresh cut Christmas trees as part of the Trees for Troops program. 

“As the primary shipping company for the USO for more than 15 years, we have helped deliver thousands of care packages to active service members and their loved ones around the world,” said Jenny Robertson, director of citizenship and reputation management at FedEx. “We continue to be inspired by the passion of USO and its commitment to keeping our military connected to family, home and country. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together and look forward to continuing to be the force behind the forces.” 

Trees for Troops is delivering over 18,000 real Christmas trees this season to service members and military families across all branches of the armed services. The base deliveries help the service members get into the holiday spirit, no matter where they are stationed. 

Marvin Hill, FedEx Freight team member and 35-year military veteran, understands the importance of Trees for Troops first-hand. Marvin was the recipient of many USO care packages and Christmas trees during his service.

“The holidays start with a tree. You could bring Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree out there and they wouldn’t care; it’s the idea,” he said.

Since the Trees for Troops program launched in 2005, FedEx has shipped more than 157,000 real Christmas trees to service members and their families—covering every branch of the military at more than 60 bases in 17 countries.

“To be able to bring joy to our service members during the holidays is a great privilege,” Mike Ducker, president and CEO of FedEx Freight, said. “Trees for Troops is a wonderful program that allows us to use our technologies and abilities to share the holidays with thousands of military members.” 

Trees for Troops can be supported by donating to the program or purchasing live trees at one. For more information, visit  http://about.van.fedex.com/newsroom/global-english/ and www.treesfortroops.org. To send support to troops deployed this holiday season, visit  www.uso.org/connects.