Gifts of Care

“It was a big surprise.”

Stacey White, Police chief of Kiefer, Oklahoma

Photo by Michael Hicks

It was just a suggestion. Stacey White, police chief of Kiefer, Oklahoma (population 1,632), gave a shout-out on his Facebook page saying, wouldn’t it be nice to get some things together to send to the Oklahoma guard’s 45th infantry serving in Afghanistan. That’s all it took. Within days the Kiefer Police Department was overflowing with donations from residents and local businesses. And schoolchildren went to work making cards for the soldiers. It’s personal for these folks. Mr. White is a veteran, one of his reserve officers is serving with the 45th, and two former reserve officers were killed in Afghanistan earlier this year. The townspeople were looking for a way to show their appreciation and respect for the soldiers. In the end, after the donations were sorted, the cards created, and the boxes packed, all 600 members of the 45th received gifts of care from their neighbors back home in Kiefer.

Read more → Lori Fullbright, Oklahoma town comes together to send 600 Christmas boxes to troops, News On 6, December 9, 2011. [includes video]