Woman’s Club marks a decade in its Military Stocking Program

The Vernon Township Woman’s Club has, for the tenth consecutive year, sent Christmas stockings stuffed with snacks and personal care items to U.S. troops serving overseas.

This year, the club teamed up with Operation Yellow Ribbon whose mission is to send care packages to our brave soldiers deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.

Woman’s Club Treasurer Lois Marples has been the creative hand behind this program for the past decade. The very talented seamstress sewed a dozen beautiful red and green stockings and used her embroidery machine to stitch “Thank you for your service” on the top of each 18-inch stocking.

Club members generously donated items that soldiers frequently request, filling each stocking with more than $25 worth of granola bars, nuts, candy, puzzle books, soap, razors, toothpaste, foot powder, and more. To add a personal touch, hand-written messages and holiday cards were stuffed into the stockings as well.

The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, which represents more than 200 clubs around the state, adopted the military stocking program as an annual service project. Women’s Clubs from all corners of New Jersey, including the Vernon club, contribute about 1,000 filled stockings to the effort each year. The stockings are collected at headquarters in New Brunswick, and delivered to Operation Yellow Ribbon in Marlton, N.J. From there they are shipped to military bases around the world. To learn more visit OperationYellowRibbon.org.