Kindness Melted Gulf War Veteran's Heart For Christmas

Veteran's family gets surprise
The Daily Item
By Justin Strawser
December 24, 2016

“There’s a lot of love in every package there,” DeFacis said.

Justin Strawser The Daily Item
Ray DeFacis, left, one of Santa's helpers in Sunbury and the co-founder of Santa's Miracle Gift of Giving, delivers presents to Anthony and Regina Fera, of Shamokin, on Friday morning.

SHAMOKIN —Anthony Fera and Ray DeFacis embraced Friday afternoon, tears in both their eyes, at the Chestnut Street home in Shamokin. Moments before, DeFacis and other volunteers dropped off dozens of presents to the Fera family of eight.

Fera, 41, a disabled Gulf War veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, said the gesture from DeFacis and the Santa’s Miracle Gift of Giving to him, his wife and six children inspired him and melted his frozen heart.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve been bitter and becoming hard,” Fera said. “This renewed and rebirthed my giving spirit.”

DeFacis, who plays Santa Claus in Sunbury, is the co-founder of Santa’s Miracle Gift of Giving, a program that provides gifts and food for families across the Valley. The Fera family was one of four families who received a delivery from Santa and his helpers on Friday.

Fera and his wife, Regina Fera, 36, have one income and are raising six children: Joslynn, 14; Gabriel, 10; Joshua, 8; Leah-Marie, 6; Hannah, 4; and Autumn-Rose, 2. The family has two dogs: Snowball, a 4-year-old English golden retriever, and Athena, a 10-month-old English mastiff.

Regina Fera is a stay-at-home mother while her husband is a painter for a sub-contracting business, but work is slow in the winter months. Anthony Fera also experiences Post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety issues from combat, hearing loss from working with explosives during the war and is constant pain due to injuries from his current career. He does receive some benefits from the VA, but it’s not enough.
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Young Girl's Santa Letter Changed Soldier's Life

Santa letter 50 years ago changed lives
The Republic
By Staff Reports
12/23/16

Written by Kim Stover

Our shared wish for an end to armed conflict still resonates, and my Vietnamese doll still stands on my desk, a testament to a young soldier’s big heart and a young girl’s belief in Santa Claus and in goodness itself.

Fifty years ago, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal published my letter to Santa Claus, shaping my adult life.

When my second-grade teacher, Judy Williamson Mervine, assigned a letter to Santa Claus, I wrote, “Dear Santa Claus, Please stop the war in Vietnam and give all of my toys to the people there so they will have a good Christmas and if I don’t get any toys I won’t care because Christmas is when the baby Jesus was born in the manger and we have gifts to celebrate Christmas. Kimberly Ann Stover.”

Surprised that my letter asked for something beyond toys, Mrs. Mervine decided to contact the Journal.

The Journal reporter asked me what war was, and I said it was fighting with guns. She asked me if I really believed in Santa Claus, and I said yes, but admitted, “Santa might not get there because his reindeer would get tired.” She also asked if Santa had any toys left over, what present would I want. I said a doll.

The front page of the Dec. 22, 1966, Journal featured the story.

Close to where my family lived, Mrs. Anita Ripley read the article and sent it to her son, Private First Class Jim Ripley, who was stationed near Saigon working as a heavy vehicle driver in Company B of the 69th Engineering Battalion of the U.S. Army.

Then Jim decided to make sure that I got that doll.
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Florida Woman Arrested for Stealing From Toys for Tots!

Polk deputies arrest 'Grinch' for stealing from 'Toys for Tots'
Eagle Lake woman filed fake apps for charity
WFTS Webteam
Dec 20, 2016

Detectives learned that Strickland attempted to use 140 fake children's names, and 28 fake adult names on fake applications to receive toys from Toys for Tots.

EAGLE LAKE, Fla. - Polk County deputies have arrested a woman who they call a "Grinch" for allegedly stealing from "Toys for Tots."

Detectives say Tammy Strickland, 38, of Eagle Lake, filed 28 fake applications to get free toys from the charity.

Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference on Tuesday morning to release details in the case.

Strickland was arrested by undercover detectives on Monday, December 19 when she showed up to the Toys for Tots warehouse to collect the toys she applied for. Strickland has been charged with Grand Theft, 28 counts of Providing False Statement to Obtain Credit/Property, Obtain Property by Fraud, and 164 counts of Create/Use/Possess Counterfeit/Fictitious Identification.
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Over 44,000 Volunteers Placed Wreaths At Arlington National Cemetery

Stunning images of Arlington National Cemetery with Wreaths Across America.

Photos: 44,000 volunteers brave icy weather to lay wreaths for veterans
WTOP News
By Kathy Stewart
December 17, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than 44,000 volunteers turned out even in the icy, cold and rainy weather to carefully lay 245,000 remembrance wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, as part of “Wreaths Across America.”

It was the 25th year that wreaths have been placed at Arlington National Cemetery. The theme for this year’s event was #SayTheirNames.

The wreaths are placed at grave sites nationwide to honor and remember fallen veterans and their service. After placing a wreath, volunteers are encouraged to take time to read the headstone, to honor the memory of that fallen hero and to say the veteran’s name out loud.

For Julie Hunter from Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, this has become an annual pilgrimage. The experience, for her, is a somber one.

“You see all kinds of people that come together from all different walks of life just being grateful for the service and the lives that were lost,” Hunter said.

This year was the first time that Wendy Nixon from North Carolina volunteered to place the wreaths. She lost her 21-year-old brother-in-law; he was killed in Iraq. She was awe-struck by the event at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday.

“People come from all over just to do this,” she said. “No words can even describe, you know?”

And when the volunteers’ work was all done, the scene left behind is breathtaking: a sea of beautiful balsam wreaths with red bows at Christmastime.
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The 28th Annual Betty's Laughing Horse Toy Run

Today at Betty's Laughing Horse groups of bikers got together to make Christmas a little better for some great kids out at the Central Florida Children's Home. It is the 28th year for this fabulous cause.

A friend donated some money, so I was able to double up on the

bears I brought.

This guy saw me struggling with two cameras, the

bears, and my coffee, right away offered to help me carry the load.

Good enough sport that he left me take pictures with the bears so

my friend could see what his generosity did for some really awesome

kids! Yes Bruce, the one you donated has the antlers.

This is a patch I saw on a veteran's vest.

And yes, Santa showed up too!

Rev. Al made this rose.