First Army’s Medical Training Task Force support Fort Hood's Santa's Workshop

Courtesy Photo | Pictured are Vietnam veterans assigned to Company C, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment “Manchu”, 25th Infantry Division searching for the names of their fellow company members on a replica of the Vietnam Memorial before playing in the American Veterans 2nd Annual Golf Scramble in Mineral Wells, Texas, recently. (Photo by Lt. Col. Scott Ward, Medical Training Task Force, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Division West Public Affairs)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

12.01.2014

Courtesy Story

First Army Division West

By Capt. Ruby Hurd
Medical Training Task Force, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Division West Public Affairs

FORT HOOD, Texas – The Medical Training Task Force, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Division West partnered with several organizations throughout Texas, and as far away as Illinois, in support of Fort Hood’s Santa’s Workshop.

The local Santa’s Workshop conducted its own “OPERATION: BALLS and BOARD GAMES.” This operation is the first of what is planned to be an annual specific toy drive to collect balls and board games, of which the Fort Hood non-profit organization generally lacks.

Santa’s Workshop supports financially struggling families of Fort Hood and specifically their children during the holiday season. In 2013, the workshop was able to provide for approximately 4,100 children, ensuring they experienced a happier holiday. The goal for Santa’s Workshop this year is to be able to service over 5,000 military children.

MTTF greatly aided in that goal by collecting nearly 700 balls and over 1,000 board games over a two-month period. Recently the MTTF, with partnered members, conducted a vehicle-road march from its headquarters at North Fort Hood to Santa’s Workshop on main post. Soldiers and civilians assembled in a linear fashion to pass the toys from the vehicles into Santa’s Workshop for an hour and a half.

“Staff at the Fort Hood Santa’s Workshop shared with me that the donation we presented to them was the single largest non-monetary (toy) donation ever received,” said Maj. William Craig, from Salado, Texas, operations officer-in-charge, Medical Training Task Force, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Division West. “I felt the results of this endeavor were a great reflection of our leadership as well as our Soldiers’ willingness to volunteer to help children during the holiday season.”

The success of Santa’s Workshop is a direct result of the generous support received from the military community and from the many individuals, private organizations and businesses throughout Texas. With their help, the workshop’s typical annual inventory consists of more than 6,400 toys, 3,200 books and 3,200 games.

The approximate monetary value of gifts distributed for each child is $50, but the non-monetary value is immeasurable.

“They’re going to be excited,” said Amy Mortar, of Killeen, Texas, Toy Buyer and Vice President, Santa’s Workshop. “They’re going to see presents under the tree and it might not have been that way if we weren’t here, if we weren’t doing this.”

“We just want them to have that excitement and joy that comes on Christmas morning,” she added.

The goal of the MTTF’s OPERATION: BALLS and BOARD GAMES is to reliably support Santa’s Workshop annually, sustaining an appreciable Christmas spirit for our military children and families.

• Date Taken: 12.01.2014
• Date Posted: 12.01.2014 17:37
• Story ID: 149115
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US