A holiday tradition in Huron County is getting a new way to say thank you this year. Firelands Electric Cooperative announced in a news release published by the New London Newsroom that its annual collection for USO Ohio’s Step Up for Soldiers drive returns for a 19th year, and that the cooperative is adding a “Salute to Veterans” online tribute alongside the familiar donation boxes in New London.
The collection runs from Nov. 11 through Dec. 18, according to the cooperative’s release. Members and neighbors can deliver care-package items to the Firelands Electric office at 103 Industrial Drive in New London, dropping them in collection boxes in the lobby during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Firelands is again teaming up with local radio stations WLKR-FM and K96-FM on the drive.
USO Ohio is asking donors to keep contributions practical and easy to ship: travel-sized hygiene items and individual, single-serve snacks. The list in the release includes razors, tissues, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, hard candy, beef jerky, cookies, crackers and other non-perishable snacks. Firelands’ November issue of Ohio Cooperative Living adds that USO Ohio delivers donated items to National Guard members across the state, and notes the co-op has been a collection location since 2007.
The new tribute is the fresh piece of this year’s effort. Residents can submit a photo of a local service member or veteran, along with the person’s name, rank, branch and years of service, through the cooperative’s Salute to Veterans submission link by Nov. 23, according to the release. Firelands plans to post the online gallery on its website and social media over Thanksgiving weekend, giving families across its service area a shared place to honor people who have served.
“We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming generosity that our members and communities show for this annual drive,” Tracy Gibb, Firelands’ communications and member relations specialist, said in a statement in the cooperative’s release. In that same statement, Gibb said the cooperative added the online gallery to give the community a meaningful way to thank local military men and women, both past and present.
The need behind the drive is steady. According to the release, the USO supports military families through more than 250 locations nationwide and serves active-duty, Guard and Reserve members in all branches. USO Ohio is a nonprofit that receives no government funding and relies solely on donations from citizens, organizations and corporations around the state, the release said; tax-deductible monetary donations can be made through ohio.uso.org.
Firelands Electric, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative serving about 9,300 homes and businesses in rural portions of Huron, Ashland, Lorain and Richland counties, according to the cooperative. The next steps are simple: bring travel-sized toiletries or single-serve snacks to the New London office between Nov. 11 and Dec. 18, and send in a tribute photo by Nov. 23 so a local veteran or service member can be part of the Thanksgiving-weekend salute.