CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — There are thousands of Christmas trees at Yenser's Tree Farm near Lehighton. While many of them will end up in homes all throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, hundreds of these trees will be donated to members of the military. It's called Trees for Troops.
"We're taking $30 donations for trees and then those trees will be put on a truck and sent off to military families on Monday," Jan Wentz said.
This is the 20th year for Trees for Troops, which provides Christmas trees to members of the military, free of charge.
"If they can get a tree and they don't have to worry about it, a tree just shows up to the base, they don't pay anything for it. Hopefully it brings them a little bit of cheer this time of the year when being away from home is so hard," Ryan Wentz said.
Yenser's Tree Farm has participated in Trees for Troops for 20 years since the program started.
"My father who was a partner of ours, my brother who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and I was in the National Guard. We all served and I thought it was important that we do this," Drew Yenser said.
Wayne Wentz served in Vietnam over Christmas and knows how important this program is.
"If we would have had a tree in Vietnam we would have went bonkers. It means so much to families of veterans," Wayne Wentz said.
Trees for Troops kicks off Friday afternoon at 3o'clock and runs through Sunday here at Yenser's Tree Farm. You can donate in person or here.