Tampa Bay Lightning partnership with Treats For Troops/Operation Pocket Change

 

 

 

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PASCO COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Trick-or-treaters will be hitting the streets for some Halloween candy, but one Bay area group has come up with an innovative way to donate candy that would otherwise go uneaten.

They call it "Treats for Troops."

It all started with some cookies.

Karin King is known as the Cookie Lady.

She has sent more than 100,000 dozen home-baked cookies to soldiers overseas.

King also sends sweets like candy to men and women serving our country.

Now, with Halloween here, she is asking for help.

"A lot of responsible parents don't want their kids to eat all of the candy they collect on Halloween, so they just throw it out," said King. "So I'm going to ask them not to throw it out this year, but to donate it to our organization."

 

Cadets from the Hillsborough County sheriff's office helped put together the latest round of care packages.

Two hundred war zones receive packages from Treats for Troops, making it lots of work.

One volunteer is Bob Williams.

"They open it up and there is a box of homemade cookies and coffee, and notes from the kids," said Williams. "Things like that, it really lets them know that the people at home have not forgotten them."

The soldiers often share the sweets with local children, turning candy into something much more powerful.

"Sometimes they become tattle-tales," said King. "They tell our soldiers where the enemy has placed bombs, so more often than not, they have saved solders lives because of a piece of candy."

Treats for Troops is hoping to collect more than 10,000-pounds of candy this Halloween, beating last year's number of 5,000-pounds.

Each of those boxes costs more than $40 to ship, so the organization is also raising money for shipping.

Donations can be dropped off at 29807 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, or at the Laker Newspaper located at 1930 Land O Lakes Blvd. in Lutz.

Checks made out to "Postmaster" can be mailed to P.O. Box 7560 in Wesley Chapel, FL 33545.

 

 

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Local woman devoted to baking cookies for U.S. troops

 

Karin King needs help and leftover Halloween candy for her causeBy Kyle LoJaconoStaff WriterLAND O’ LAKES — Most people enjoy fresh-baked cookies, but that luxury is something the women and men of the U.S. armed forces do without daily.That is, except when Karin King is baking. Karin King receives an award from Navy Chief Joseph Sykes for her efforts to help U.S. troops overseas with treats. Special to The Laker/Lutz News.“It warms my heart to be able to help make the troops’ lives a little nicer,” King said. “They do so much to keep our country safe, and have to do it in faraway places in bad conditions. If I can send some of them cookies and treats to make them smile, then it is worth it. It lets them know people still care about what they are doing.”King has done more than send just some of them cookies. Over the last three years, she has baked 100 dozen, or 1,200 cookies, each week as part of the Treats for Troops program she established in Land O’ Lakes. The cookies cost a few hundred dollars per week.King is unemployed, which gives her more time to bake cookies. Those cookies almost fill 17 boxes each week, and she fills the extra space with candy.King said a few other people have helped in the past, but she is the only one baking now. She is asking anyone interested in helping bake cookies for the troops to call or e-mail her (see the box below).Candy is used in place of packing peanuts to prevent the cookies from crushing, so King requests donations for unopened leftover Halloween candy. While she cannot send chocolate cookies from May to October due to the heat, there are no restrictions to the kind of candy that can be donated now.“I don’t want anyone to buy extra candy just to give to me,” King said. “I know that people usually have lots of leftover candy that they don’t have a chance to give out on Halloween. Some of the many service men and women who have received cookies that Karin King bakes and sends each week. The group is pictured at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Special to The Laker/Lutz News.“So I’m asking anyone to donate what they aren’t going to use and to try and gather and donate other people’s leftover candy too. Parents can ask for leftovers at their kid’s schools, youth clubs, sports teams, day cares, churches and other places to make donations.”Those interested in donating can drop candy off at The Laker/Lutz News, located at 1930 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Suite No. 14. King said people can also drop off candy at her residence, or she will meet them if they do not live close to her.King collected 1,600 pounds of candy in 2007 and 2,000 pounds in 2008. This year’s goal is 5,000 to 10,000 pounds.Her efforts were recognized in April with a certificate of appreciation from Multi-National Force-Iraq. Flags were flown in honor at bases in Al Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan. She also received letters and e-mails of thanks from troops, who share the candy with children who save troops’ lives.“The kids have spared the lives of our troops by telling them where the enemy placed bombs more than once,” King said. “Many times the troops tell me the cookies are the first the kids over there have ever eaten.”King sends the boxes of treats through Support Our Troops in Wesley Chapel. Bob Williams, who served on the USS Independent in Vietnam from 1964 to 1967, is in charge of that organization.“Karin has been a huge help in sending things to the troops,” Williams said. “Getting a bag of cookies and candy from home makes all the difference in the moral of the troops. I want these boys and girls to have the respect they deserve because that wasn’t the case sometimes in the past. People like Karin help make life livable for them.”Williams buys thing like small refrigerators, microwaves and televisions to send to the troops in large boxes, along with the treats from King. It costs hundreds to thousands of dollars to mail boxes to troops each year. Donations are welcome.While the troops like the treats, there is one person that has to suffer through the baking.“The only problem is I have is to smell all those cookies all the time, but I’m not allowed to eat any of them,” said King’s husband, Jim. “It really is incredible to me the dedication Karin has. I am just the guy who goes and gets stuff for her, to make it easy for her. She does everything herself.”Jim King’s father, James C. King, was in the armed forces as the medical director for the U.S. Public Health Service.“I’ll keep sending the treats as long as I possibly can,” King said. “It is the least I can do for those real heroes around the world.”How to HelpKarin King with Treats for TroopsCall: (813) 746-1517E-mail: TreatsForTroops.infokarin_king@yahoo.com

Needed items: Leftover Halloween candy; help with baking; coffee; instant beverages (Kool-Aid, lemonade); tea; toiletries (body wash, shampoo, body lotion, sunscreen) and feminine hygiene productsDrop-off location: 1930 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Suite No. 14Web site: www.TreatsForTroops.InfoBob Williams with Support the TroopsE-mail: sift@aol.comNeeded items: Checks or money orders payable to the Postmaster and sent to P.O. Box 7560 Wesley Chapel, FL 33545 to help pay for postageWeb site: www.ourtroopsonline.com

 

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Two treat drives, one worthy cause

 

Candy and cookie drives bring in thousands of treats for the troopsKyle LoJaconoStaff WriterLAND O’ LAKES  — While most people spent Thanksgiving consumed with family and food, Karin King was baking cookies. Ricardo Montero has been helping Karin King bake cookies for U.S. troops overseas. He is pictured next to his commercial oven, which can bake 600 cookies every hour. Photo by Kyle LoJacono.They are not for herself or her family. They are for the tens of thousands of U.S. troops overseas.“I can only imagine what it must be like for our troops to be in a different country away from their family,” King said.King, who started the Treats for Troops program in Land O’ Lakes three years ago, usually bakes 1,200 cookies each week to send to the troops, but wanted to do something special for Christmas. She set a goal of sending 18,000 cookies to the troops by Dec. 10, which would fill 250 boxes.“I wanted to set the deadline of Dec. 10 so I make sure they reach the troops by Christmas,” King said. “Funds are depleted at the moment, and we could use all the help we can get to buy the supplies to get the cookies baked. We owe our freedom to our troops. This is the least we can do for them.”King has shipped a total of 415 dozen cookies as of Dec. 3. Ricardo Montero, of Wesley Chapel, has been helping her bake.“I saw the article in The Laker and wanted to help the soldiers,” Montero said. “Where I’m from, very few people have nice things, but here in America everyone does. I want to help the soldiers who let us have such freedoms until they all come home.”Montero moved to Florida 20 years ago from Mexico City and has a commercial oven that can bake 600 cookies in an hour. King now has help baking cookies, but she still needs baking supplies to use the oven to its full capacity.The cookies are baked longer to make them harder so they ship easier. King then packs them with other treats such as candy, pretzels, popcorn and hot chocolate. She then sends the boxes through Bob Williams and Support Our Troops in Wesley Chapel.King was collecting leftover Halloween candy to send to the troops during November. Karin King poses with some of the 8,100 pounds of the Halloween candy that were donated by community residents. King sends thousands of cookies and pounds of candy to U.S. troops overseas each year. Photo by Jim King.“We collected 8,100 (pounds),” King said. “We’ve had people send donations from all over the state and the country. As soon as The Laker article of Oct. 27 went online, I was able to attach it to e-mails I received. Both articles that appeared in The Laker so far really gave my organization credibility.”King received candy donations from Zephyrhills, Dade City, Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Odessa and Lutz to name a few local areas.The October article was titled “Local Woman Devoted to Baking Cookies for U.S. Troops” and can be viewed on www.cnewspubs.com in the archive.King is still collecting cookies, as well as baking supplies, toiletries and feminine hygiene products. For the exact type of baking supplies needed or to make other donations, call King at (813) 746-1517 or e-mail her at karin_king@yahoo.com.King will also be starting a drive to collect letters and cards from the community to boost troop morale. King will begin the letter drive in earnest after the start of the new year and wants to “saturate” military bases with them by Valentine’s Day.King is surrounded by sweet treats daily, but she is not tempted to eat them for two reasons. The treats are for the troops, and she has type II diabetes. She was diagnosed with the disease in January 2006 but has kept the sweet stuff in her life by indirect means.“I want to keep sending treats and supplies for as long as our troops are over there,” King said. “It is just something small to let them know people are thinking of them.”King receives letters and e-mails from troops thanking her for the treats and supplies. One such letter came from Matt Kaslik of the Navy, who wrote:“I wanted to thank you for the wonderful, thoughtful and respectful care package you sent to our team! The note was very heartfelt and sincere and we want to return the ‘thank you’ to you and your friends who made these wonderful baked goods while sharing your love and devotion.”“I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the community for really stepping up to the plate this season, but please remember that after the holidays the loneliness will hit our troops the hardest,” King said. “It’s then that we will need everyone’s help the most to help them keep their chin up. Let’s not forget our troops after the holidays. They won’t stop fighting for our freedom after the holidays.”For more information on Treats for Troops