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 Fort Collins, Colorado – December 4, 2009 – Last week, a wall in a hallway at Weston Distance Learning, Inc. (2001 Lowe Street) was stacked five feet high with 64 boxes packed with winter cheer. In a few days, the boxes will be flown from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs to soldiers stationed at remote military outposts in Iraq. The boxes are the end result of Weston’s Support Our Troops holiday donation drive. Lori Faust, a Weston financial manager who coordinated the drive, was delighted by the response. “For 64 boxes to be donated by a company our size is just incredible,” said Faust. “It’s obvious that the staff is keeping our soldiers in their thoughts this holiday season. Even people who didn’t fill a box ended up donating money for gift items or loading filled boxes into the truck. Just about everybody in the company was involved.”
Faust got the idea for the drive from her husband, who has headed up a holiday military gift-box drive at his employer (GE) for the past five years. “He’s retired Air Force,” says Faust. “He’s a big supporter of our troops.” For its company drive, GE supplies employees with sturdy, plastic utility boxes for them to fill. This year, GE also supplied Weston with the boxes.
In early November, Weston employees received a list of items deemed acceptable to send to soldiers stationed in a Muslim country. These include pocket-sized snacks, bags of candy (but no chocolate; it melts), toiletries, playing cards, Pop Tarts, Sunday comics, paper and pens, laundry soap, throat lozenges, eye drops, nasal spray, boot liners, batteries, books, aspirin, duct tape, single-use cameras and “socks socks socks.” Items deemed unacceptable include pork products, alcohol and racy reading material. Although the official deadline for Weston employees to fill boxes was November 25th, Faust has continued to receive money and gift items for more boxes. “All of them are now in our basement,” she says. “Between GE and Weston, we have about 120.”
To ensure that contents meet military requirements, Faust and her husband inspect each box, carefully re-filling it intact. With one addition: During the drive, Faust received a stack of holiday cards and letters from schoolchildren wanting to support the soldiers. If she finds a box without a personal greeting inside, she adds a child’s note.
Faust describes the Iraqi region to which the boxes are being flown as “extremely volatile.” By Christmas, soldiers there will be opening the containers packed with home things to eat, drink, wear and play with. They’ll also be reading cards of thanks and best wishes from Weston, GE and a group of kids.
Weston Distance Learning, Inc., is the parent company of three distance education schools: At-Home Professions, McKinley College and U.S. Career Institute. The schools enroll students throughout the country. Weston courses prepare students to work in more than 25 fields offering solid job prospects and earning potential. Currently, Weston is launching a new course every few months. Its state approval is issued by the Colorado Department of Education’s Division of Private Occupational Schools. Each certificate course and degree program is accredited through the nationally recognized Distance Education and Training Council. Each is approved for GI Bill, VA and DANTES military education benefits. To learn more about Weston Distance Learning, visit http://www.westondistancelearning.com/.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Ann Rohr, call marketing director Kevin White at (800) 347-7899 or email Kevin at KevinW@westondistancelearning.com.
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