Operation Holiday Homecoming will bring all the Vermont troops home

Senate President Peter Shumlin announced today that thanks to the tremendous generosity of Vermonters, Operation Holiday Homecoming has been successful and we will be bringing all Vermont National Guard troops home for the holidays.
“I am pleased to report that through the fundraising efforts of Vermonters across the state we have reached our goal and raised the funds necessary to bring home our troops for the holidays,” said Senator Shumlin. “It has been wonderful to see Vermonters from diverse income levels, ages, backgrounds and political parties step up and show that they support our troops.”
In preparation for the largest deployment since World War Two, 600 Vermont National Guard soldiers will be training in Indiana. The soldiers are required to finance their trips back to Vermont during this leave and many of them could simply not afford the trip home. With the success of Operation Holiday Homecoming all of these troops will be allowed to board buses on December 22 that will be arriving in Colchester on December 23.
“Operation Holiday Homecoming means so much to our soldiers,” said Adjutant General Dubie. “This effort will not only allow our troops to be with their families for the holidays, it has shown them that Vermonters support them as they face the difficult challenges ahead.”
Since launching Operation Holiday Homecoming, over $175,000 has been raised and with bus charter negotiations resulting in a significantly lower charter price then expected (just under $100,000) the effort has been successful. Additional funds raised will go toward the work of the National Guard Charitable Foundation to support the Guard families during the length of the deployment. Many of these families are facing a tough year ahead with their primary breadwinner overseas. The Foundation helps these families deal with everything from a broken furnace to unexpected medical bills.
“We understand that efforts are continuing across the state to raise money for Operation Holiday Homecoming and while we have successfully reached our goal to bring our troops home, there remains the opportunity to help the Guard families during the difficult months ahead,” said General Steven Cray of the National Guard Charitable Foundation.
Source: Shumlin's office. 11.24.2009
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