Yenser's Tree Farm kicked off its annual Trees for Troops campaign on Friday morning. Members of the Lehighton and Lansford Veterans of Foreign Wars posts came out for the program launch.

Staff Sgt. Mark Fuggiti of the Pennsylvania National Guard Lehighton Armory, said the military is appreciative to people who organized the program, the tree growers and the public who support Trees for Troops."We are really blown away by all of the community support," he said.Jan Wentz, whose grandfather started Yenser's Christmas Tree Farm, said her dad was part of the organization that cultivated the Trees for Troops idea. The program was started by the Christmas Spirit Foundation in 2004, a branch of the National Christmas Tree Association.Anyone interested in donating a Christmas tree can purchase one this weekend at her farm for $25. From the donation, $5 will go to the Christmas Spirit Foundation to help cover promotion costs of the Trees for Troops program. Additional growers that support the charity include Crystal Spring Tree Farm and Walker's Tree Farm, both in Lehighton."We get a tremendous amount of community support," Wentz said. "Everybody jumps in to help."Last year, Yenser's was able to donate 500 trees. This year, the farm is hoping to donate 600, she said. Families who donate a tree can write a Christmas message to the family who will receive it. The Christmas trees from their farm will leave the area on Monday and are destined for delivery at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.According to the Trees for Troops charity, FedEx contacted the Christmas Spirit Foundation in 2005 to look into how they could help. Together, the two were able to expand the project.Since then, more than 157,000 farm-grown Christmas trees have been delivered free to military families stateside and overseas. About 450 growers nationwide currently donate trees.Since its inception, CSF has received several national awards for the Trees for Troops program including the Best of America Seal of Excellence award. The Independent Charities Seal of Excellence is awarded to charities that demonstrated annually that they meet high standards of public accountability, program effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Fewer than 4 percent of charitable programs receive the seal.In 2009, Cause Marketing Forum awarded the Halo Award to the CSF for exemplary work between a nonprofit and corporate entity.And in 2012, Trees for Troops was recognized by the White House as one of the top 20 national finalists in the Joining Forces Community Challenge. This award spotlights programs "that provide exemplary service and support to military families."The public can also purchase a Christmas tree for a military family by going online to

www.TreesForTroops.org/dnn/Donate.aspx.