Warrior Foundation Freedom Station Supporters:
The most magical time of the year is almost upon us, and we need YOU to help make the holiday season merry and bright for the warriors who are recovering at Naval Medical Center San Diego. This year, Santa will need 150 volunteer elves to make Operation Deck the Halls a success!
WHAT: Deck the Halls is our most festive and cherished annual tradition. We fill the hospital with Holiday cheer by decorating the floors with trees, ornaments, garland, banners and more. For ill and injured warriors living in the barracks, this provides a wonderful morale boost and lets them know they are remembered and appreciated during this special time of year.
WHEN: Saturday, November 26 from 7:30am – 12pm
- Line-up for buses begins no later than 7:15am; last bus leaves 8am
- Opening announcements will begin at 8am at Building 26
*Light breakfast items will be provided starting at 7:30am
WHERE: Meet at Veteran’s Museum at Balboa Park, 2115 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101 and a bus will be waiting to drive you onto Naval Medical Center San Diego
*Note: If you have base access via a military ID, retired ID, etc. you are encouraged to drive to the Medical Center yourself. The address is: Naval Medical Center San Diego, 34800 Bob Wilson Dr., San Diego, CA 92134 and we will be decorating Building 26; meet at the entrance of Bldg 26.
- Please park at the Veteran’s Museum at Balboa Park; we will have 2 buses making 2 trips each.
- For those of you taking the bus onto the medical center campus, you will need to remain in Building 26 (the building we’re decorating) the entire time as you are required to be escorted; we are responsible for you.
- When we near the end of decorating, one of our members will walk you off base and back to your vehicles. The walk is out a back gate and takes about 10 minutes. We will be leading the walk from the lobby multiple times so you don’t all have to be done at once, and you won’t have to wait on everyone to finish if you’re done early.
- If you are unable to make the 10 minute walk due to a medical reason or health constraint, please let us know in the comments during registration and we will have volunteers available to drive you in their personal vehicles back to your car at the museum.
WHAT TO BRING:
To make Deck the Halls as successful as possible, we would appreciate the assistance of our volunteers in bringing some of the following items with you on the day of the event.
Tools
· Small personal hammer, marked with your name, to help tap in push pins (you’ll want this or something similar, trust us!)
· Gardening/work gloves (pushing in pins isn’t always comfortable for the fingers, these will help)
· Push pins (for use with garlands only, not on walls)
· Small step ladder (marked with your name & phone # in case it gets left behind)
Gifts for Warriors
These items will be collected for our upcoming Holiday gift-giving day or distributed into the warriors’ rooms during Deck the Halls.
· Individually packaged non-perishable food items (nuts, trail mix, jerky, cookies, candy, chips, crackers, pretzels, instant coffee, etc.)
· Granola bars and cereal bars
· Microwavable popcorn
· Cases of water and Gatorade
· Packs of gum
· Men’s and Women’s Toiletries – solid deodorant (male and female), full-size shampoo and body wash, loofahs, hand lotion, sunscreen, lip balm, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.)
· Etc.!!!
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: The registration deadline is November 22nd.
Deck the Halls is truly one of the most fun, memorable, and rewarding events of the year. It means a lot to our warriors, and we hope you’ll join us in giving them the best holiday season ever! If you have any questions about the event, please email us at lacy.cano@warriorfoundation.org.