Parsippany Ships Off Christmas Trees To Military Families

PARSIPPANY, NJ - For the third time in as many years, Parsippany volunteers lined up outside Cerbo's Parsippany Greenhouse and Garden Center to support the Trees for Troops Christmas tree donation drive.

Residents in small groups unloaded trees, tagged them with holiday wishes, and carefully loaded them into FedEx shipping trucks, to be delivered to military families at Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia and Fort Bragg, in North Carolina.

“Our first year we had 115 trees donated, last year we got around 300, this year we’ve got a hard count of 500 trees we’re donating,” said Tyler Cerbo. “This is something the community has been so engaged in and willing to support. People are definitely looking for a feel good at the end of this year, and helping our military and their families is something I think everybody wants to be a part of.”

The Trees for Troops program is a nationwide event that donates thousands of farm-grown Christmas trees to military bases all over the country. Donors are provided a card to offer well wishes to the recipient, which is tied to the tree and placed on the trucks to be hauled away to military bases.

“When the Cerbo family asked me to get involved with this three years ago, I was reminded of my father, who was in the military and stationed in Germany, who had brought along his Bing Crosby ‘White Christmas’ record with him, to remind him of the Christmas traditions he missed while overseas,” said Mayor Michael Soriano. “This is personal, not just for me but for the people here volunteering. We respect the men and women who wear the uniform, and protect this country at home and abroad. What a great way to kick off our holiday season.”

If people still want to donate, Cerbo’s notes that donations can still be made after this event.

To find out how to donate to Trees for Troops and the Christmas Spirit Foundation, go to www.treesfortroops.org.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources and highlights other work to help others. If you know of a local organization or initiative that should be profiled, contact russ.crespolini@patch.com

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