Lincoln Academy Ambassadors and residential student volunteers wrapped presents over Veterans Day Weekend for families that are part of the Task Force Veterans Visits.
The holidays are looking brighter for veteran families this year, after the Lincoln Academy Ambassadors volunteered to wrap over 200 presents for the nonprofit organization Task Force Veterans Visits. Twenty students from the Ambassadors club and International program worked together for over two hours to carefully wrap and organize gifts for families, under the guidance of Lynda and Hilary Petersen, club advisor.
For each of the last 10 years, Lynda Petersen of Watertown, CT has been collecting gifts and clothing for needy families along the East Coast. Lynda sponsors children of deployed troops and veterans who are struggling to make ends meet. Beginning the day after Christmas, she scours clothing and toy sales and collects donations throughout the year. Her goal is to send toys, books, or outfits for children aged newborn to ten. Last year, she provided enough toys for 80 children, from families Lynda knows in various groups both locally and online. “The biggest challenge”, Lynda says, “is to wrap over 400 gifts and ship them before Christmas”. Until now, a small group of retired friends have helped her complete the task. But, two years ago, her granddaughter Izzy, a senior at Lincoln at the time, was looking for some volunteer work. Lynda saw this as a great opportunity to support student volunteers and wrap a van load of presents in a single day. Caroline Mathews, who came all the way down from St George, said “Wrapping presents for those kids felt so amazing. To know that we wrapped so many presents for those families was very rewarding. I hoped we made a good impact on those kids.” Ayesha Giberson ‘27, an LA ambassador, “it was a warm thought that we got to help bring joy to people’s lives.”
Each child receives a minimum of a toy, book, and outfit, and items are chosen based upon family wish lists. Candy canes, coloring books, crayons and matchbox cars are included as well. Lynda will travel the East Coast delivering presents to many families and ships the rest. Says Lynda, “Task Force Vet Visits is very grateful for the help of the students in wrapping the gifts. They did an amazing amount of work in a very short time! Their contribution to the Christmas Kids project will be even more appreciated by the children who discover the presents under their trees!”
