A holiday gift for military families

LEBANON, Ohio (WDTN) - Grandma's Gardens & Landscape will be one of just five Ohio pick-up locations for the Christmas Trees for Troops program, announced the Warren County garden center on Wednesday.

Local families are invited to purchase a fresh-cut tree which FedEx will send to a military family away from home this holiday season. From November 23 through December 2, the fresh-cut Scotch Pines, specially priced at $25,  can be purchased at Grandma's Gardens.

In 2011, customers and employees of Grandma's donated 110 trees to bring Christmas cheer to families living at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.  In previous years, trees from Grandma’s have gone to the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Cleveland and military bases in Texas and Arizona. FedEx, which delivers the trees and donates all the freight charges, determines the destination.  

The Trees for Troops program was initiated by the Christmas Spirit Foundation, a charitable branch of the National Christmas Tree Association.  In 2012, their goal is to deliver more than 17,000 trees to 62 bases in the U.S. and 14 other countries. Grandma’s Gardens hopes the local community will participate and contribute 120 of those this year.

This will be the fifth year for Grandma's Gardens & Landscape to participate in the program. Its located at 8107 State Route 48 in Clearcreek Township.  For more info, www.treesfortroops.org