Celebrating Christmas with veterans
MARQUETTE — A special group of people were given some Christmas cheer Tuesday to celebrate the holiday season.
Great Lakes Radio brought in cartfuls of items to residents at the Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette. All items were donated by the Marquette County community for the annual Christmas is for Veterans.
Veterans were able to choose from anything from slippers and sweatpants to word search books and calendars.
This year was one of the largest collections of items the event has seen.
“The program has gotten bigger and bigger and I think as the word gets out, people who hear that we’re doing this participate. They hear about it when they’re out shopping and they pick up an extra item to bring to the veterans, so it shows me that the support for veterans continues to grow,” Jacobetti Home for Veterans administrator Brad Slagle said.
“I’ve talked to a few of the guys and they’re very humbled in their service to the country and they’re always surprised and very appreciative when the community shows how much they support them.”
“We’re very happy to have the community step up,” Christmas is for Veterans organizer Walt Lindala said. “They’re very responsive to this, they want to say ‘thank you’ to the veterans, but also to remember them during this Christmastime because a lot of them here at the Jacobetti Home, they don’t have family (and) they don’t have folks that are going to come see them. This is a great way to say thank you for your service and Merry Christmas.”
The celebration also included cookies, refreshments, and some Christmas carols.