Ladies auxiliary prepares military Christmas care boxes

COLUMBIANA, Ohio (WKBN) – The floor of Stella McClintic’s home is lined with items that will soon be on their way to three dozen local service men and women from the area.

McClintic is in charge of the Care Box program of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary in Columbiana. Twice each year she and others put together packages full of everything from cookies and candy to hygiene necessities, even playing cards and sunscreen.

“It’s just something special for them to get a box with items that we put in,” McClintic said. “I got a note from someone serving in the Middle East, and he was like, ‘You can’t believe how much I appreciate that tube of sunscreen,'” McClintic said.

In all, close to $50 worth of items go in each care box along with a Christmas card for the service member. They’re prepacked in ziplock bags and numbered to make sure everything fits in just right.

It costs the auxiliary several thousand dollars to collect, package and mail the care boxes. Much of the money comes from candy bar sales throughout the year as well as the red poppies that are sold each spring.

Recently, Vicki Magee, who operates four Simply Scarves and Such shops in the area started asking her customers to chip in as well, providing even more items for the program.

“This is going to matter to them, and it matters to us because we get to have kindness in the smallest ways. But that really matters to others and that’s what it’s all about,” Magee said.

Auxiliary members will pack the boxes early next month and get them in the mail in time for the holidays. They’ll send another round of boxes in the spring.

The auxiliary collects the names of service men and women most often from people who visit the American Legion Post 290, which has a dining area that’s open to the public on State Route 14.

If you know of anyone who is active military and stationed in the U.S. or overseas, you can give that contact information to the auxiliary and they will add them to their list.

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