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WESTON, Conn. Some of the troops fighting in Afghanistan now have a little piece of Weston with them a little piece of candy, that is.
A few days after Halloween, Westonites Lyn Milliman, Jane Young-Anglim and Karen DeMartine decided to donate leftover candy to troops fighting overseas. The three women joined forces with the Weston Supports the Troops organization and held a townwide candy drive.
The women set up donation boxes all over town, including at the Weston Public Library and Weston Intermediate School, for a few days, hoping for a few leftover bags of candy. Instead, they were inundated with donations of not only candy but also donations from Weston residents to pay the shipping costs. A local business also donated all of the boxes for the shipping.
The outpouring of support for the troops from Weston and the surrounding communities was overwhelming, said DeMartine. So much candy was donated that the cable repairman at my house thought I was in the candy business."
Lt. Ray Vetter, a graduate of Norwalk High School and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, serves at a U.S. Army command outpost in Afghanistan and is one of the candy recipients. Vetter said in an email, The amount of candy we received is mind-blowing. All of the barracks have a couple of boxes each.
Vetter said that when he and his fellow troops patrol the local villages of Afghanistan they plan to pass the candy out to children. The kids there always want to interact and play with the soldiers. Now we will be able to pass out candy, and the children will love it.
DeMartine said she couldnt thank the community enough for donating their time, money and candy to the cause. It really means a lot to soldiers and their families that people here at home are thinking about them.
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