Community Coalition hopes to bring military members home for Christmas

There's just no place like home for the holidays and the Community Coalition of Liberty is hoping to give that opportunity to active military service members this Christmas.

The Community Coalition of Liberty, in conjunction with Elks Lodge No. 2019, was awarded a $1,000 Elks Freedom Grant Freedom for a program called Boots Home for the Holidays.

The program aims to bring active military home to their families for the 2022 holiday season.

"We want to bring these men and women who are currently serving home for a few days to enjoy their families and community. We want to say thank you," said Jennifer Regen.

The idea came from an active Elk, Sandy Perkins, whose son was on active duty last year. The family was trying to gather funds to get Sandy's son, his wife and his children back home to Dayton to spend the holidays with the family. 

In the area where her son was stationed, the YMCA has a military program called Operation Ride Home, sponsored by the ASYMCA and Jack Daniels.

Upon hearing of Operation Ride Home, Sandy, Shane Iler and Regen immediately started working on Boots Home for the Holidays.

"We didn't want to reinvent the wheel; we just wanted to bless the families in our area," said Regen.

Regen hopes to identify local military service men and women from Liberty County and help make a trip home for the holidays a reality.

The grant will allow them to bring home five service members at $200 a person, but donations to the project could allow more participants.

According to Regen, donations can be made specifically to this project, or a general donation can be made to help with the many projects they work on throughout the year.

The deadline is currently set for Dec. 20 but could be extended if necessary. 

If you would like to support, partner with, or host an event or program by the Community Coalition, please contact Jennifer Regen at (713) 540-3708 for more information.