Just in time for Memorial Day this year, the Walnutport VFW was able to put together about 35 care packages on Wednesday evening and ship them off later in the week to an Army unit it recently adopted that is stationed overseas.

The R.W. Fritzinger VFW 7215 Post held a Surf & Turf Raffle on April 27 to gather money for the purchase of requested wish list items for the unit. One of the unit's members is the grandson of former quartermaster and current member Ted Kistler."We made $2,000 during the fundraiser," said past post commander and current Quartermaster Bruce Jones, "and the only reason it was (so exact) was that we had people who made personal donations to bring it to that amount.""We love our members, both social and active, and we have a tremendous membership here," Jones said, noting it now stands at 178 active members and 150 social members. "These people back us to the end because they know our money is going to a good cause … we're here for the veterans and their families."Jones said that one social member, Daniel Kunkle, had personally donated $100, and someone else $50 toward the wish list items while the owner of Milan Printing, of Jim Thorpe, donated and printed all of the raffle tickets.In addition, he said the Slatington Skeet and Sporting Association volunteered to pay the boxes' postage, which was predicted to run between $500 to $1,000.These efforts allowed the VFW to put all of its raffle proceeds toward the purchase of the wish list items of its adopted unit, the combat engineers of Company A of the 101st Airborne Division, whose member Michael Kistler is a Lehigh Township resident.Some of the items purchased included things like sunscreen, beef jerky, mixed nuts and other snacks, energy boosters, drink mixes and more.In addition, VFW bartender Amanda Frantz, of Slatington, stopped by with her daughter, Olivia, 8, a Brownie, and son, Owen, 7, to drop off Girl Scout cookies for the troops.She said everyone from Girl Scout Troop 6592, of Slatington, had collected money at their cookie booths this year to go toward the purchase of 40 boxes of cookies to bring for the care packages."They're gonna love these!" Jones said.Debra Rausch, of Palmerton, a social member whose son's unit, the Task Force Tigers, received wish list items from the Walnutport VFW in 2012, knows how much these efforts mean to troops overseas."(My) guys were really happy to receive all the stuff," she said. "They got all the things that we take for granted, that they miss.""It's nice, and it helps because it does get a little expensive to buy all the goodies and package them up and ship them over," said Michael's mother, Kathy Kistler, about the current packages being sent.She also noted that due to the economy, it is good that these packages are being sent to all members of the unit "because you don't know if everyone has family that can (afford) it.""And for a lot of these (soldiers), this very likely could be their very first trip away from home, out of the country. So I just think it lets them know we're thinking about them, we love them and we care," she said.For his part, Michael's older brother Ted said, "It's nice to see that there are these organizations out there, and people out there and veterans who stick together and do these sorts of things for people who are still at war. I'm really appreciative and very thankful they could help out my family."Jones said that many people don't realize that VFWs not only offer veterans who have served in a war zone camaraderie once they return home but also make efforts to visit veterans in VA hospitals, such as the one in Wilkes-Barre. He also mentioned that, as funding allows, the VFW will even assist nonveteran individuals and families in need within the community.