DHL Express brings trees, letters, gifts to troops abroad

DHL Express is teaming up with folks in the greater New York City area for their annual Operation Holiday Cheer, a program to help U.S. military service members living abroad celebrate the holidays.

DHL Express, with help from volunteers, will pack and ship trees, letters, menorahs, gifts and decorations from Dees’ Nursery in Long Island to the DHL Gateway at JFK International Airport on Dec. 7. The items will be loaded onto a DHL 777 aircraft for a non-stop flight to the Middle East.

“Our appreciation for the men and women who serve to keep us safe is something we feel deeply year round but it’s great during this giving season to deliver our thanks through Operation Holiday Cheer,” said Mike Parra, chief executive officer of DHL Express U.S.

This is the 12th consecutive year DHL has partnered with the New York community for Operation Holiday Cheer. The company launched the program in 2004 after a mother of a soldier stationed in Iraq asked Dees’ Nursery if she could purchase and mail a Christmas tree to him. Dees’ Nursery wished to donate the tree but wasn’t sure how to get it to the solider. Nursery representatives made contact with DHL Express to see what they could arrange and they started DHL Operation Holiday Cheer.

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