AT&T Pioneers Ship Holiday Cheer Overseas

In Florida, AT&T Pioneers were extra busy during the recent holiday season, assembling care packages for shipment to soldiers stationed overseas in Japan. The project was spearheaded by Chris Garner, manager for AT&T National Business and acting president of the AT&T Veterans employee resource group in Florida.

“The care packages are a way show appreciation to active military personnel overseas,” Garner said. “It was important to do something special during the holidays, especially for those who serve our country and are away from their families.”

The holiday packages contained tons of snacks and candies, magazines, playing cards, and military-grade socks. But the icing on the cake? The handwritten greeting cards penned by local boy scouts and elementary students that were slipped inside the packages.

Over 115 soldiers stationed in Okinawa, Japan received the packages just in time for the 2021 holidays. Some were sent to a unit where an AT&T employee and Naval reservist was deployed.

Garner and his team of volunteers have been preparing the holiday packages for soldiers overseas for the last five years. AT&T employees organized collections in offices around the state to help fund the project. Several fundraising events were also held throughout the year so that items for the packages could be purchased. In November, volunteers gathered to assemble the care packages. And, then finally, the packages were off to the post office for shipment.

“There’s a good amount of excitement in the process, and the anticipation of how the soldiers will react when they receive the surprise packages fuels our commitment to the initiative,” Garner said. “The gift of giving is extraordinary.”