A few weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Smithtown Today covered a special day of fundraising for the Long Island Blue Star Moms, who send care packages overseas to our Troops. The Blue Star Moms’ boxes of love initiative is an essential part of what gets our Soldiers through the hard days overseas. So when we received word from Garguilo’s Bakery, that they would be a drop off location for Boxes of Love, Smithtown Today was thrilled. We published a memo to readers who couldn’t make the Blue Star Moms fundraiser, to stop by the Lake Avenue Bakery with personal sized basic essentials. Then something magical began…
“We were floored by the amount of generosity, exhibited by our customers. We are lucky, in that we have so many good people as regulars here in St. James… But this was something really extraordinary to be a part of. ” – Michael Garguilo, Owner & Lead Baker of Garguilo’s Bakery
The first week, the box overflowed, again the week after and so on until the night before Christmas. Smithtown Today picked up over 80 pounds of basic supplies to ship to Afghanistan to our Troops just in time for Christmas. We were able to divide the goods into five separate U.S. Postal Service Large Flat Rate boxes, all separated by categories (i.e. canned goods, Toiletries, First Aid supplies, Basic survival items). The larger items which were too big to ship overseas, were also separated and sent to a Military Base here in the U.S. to a group of Soldiers who could not afford to fly home for Christmas. Many of these Soldiers keep odd hours and often miss out on meal times, so the extra food they can keep on hand, assures our troops won’t go hungry.
Once we had everything separated, the staff at Garguilo’s Bakery signed a special Thank You card, which they also put out for customers who graciously donated or who simply want to say Thank You for Your Service to the Men and Women serving. Joanie Terciak, the Long Island Blue Star Mom President was essential in the final steps; properly shipping the Boxes of Love to the Military bases overseas and at home.
Smithtown Today would like to thank the team at Garguilo’s Bakery and the Long Island Blu Star Moms who made the Boxes of Love possible. We especially thank the Men and Women who have volunteered to protect our Freedoms without hesitation or concern of self.