"Local resident Tina Rice, whose son is serving in Iraq, is on a mission to see not one of our soldiers is left empty handed at Christmas time. She has started "Operation Christmas Presence" to make sure each of our local soldiers gets a gift box for Christmas."

by Joe Kirkpatrick

Christmas is a special time of year for most of us. If you happen to be away from  your family and home in another country during Christmas, it can be one of the most miserable times of the year instead of the most special time. We have many men and women from our area who will be spending their Christmas this year in Iraq serving their country. Many, no doubt, will receive packages from their families, but there are some who, unfortunately, will not.

Local resident Tina Rice, whose son is serving in Iraq, is on a mission to see not one of our soldiers is left empty handed at Christmas time. She has started "Operation Christmas Presence" to make sure each of our local soldiers gets a gift box for Christmas. She is working closely with Kaylee Radsyminski, a local young lady who has already founded "Tunes 4 the Troops", a service which provides thousands of CD's for our soldiers, to find out the needs and where to send the packages.

Mt. Olive Ministries is already supplying the packaging supplies and volunteers to pack and ship the packages, and Southern Heritage Bank has