LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — While our military is leaving Afghanistan, thousands of servicemen and women are still away from their loved ones protecting America's interest.
Some don't get steady reminders like packages from home.
That's what Forgotten Soldiers Outreach in Lake Worth is trying to accomplish, but right now their donations are at an all-time low.
Marine Chris McCarthy got his care package in Afghanistan.
"If I keep going I'm going to start tearing up there but it's just priceless what those care packages did for moral," said McCarthy.
Thousands of active-duty servicemen and women get Forgotten Soldiers Outreach packages each year.
They're filled with snacks, toiletries and letters.
Donations to fill those boxes is critically low.
Asked why she thinks those donations are low, Forgotten Soldiers Outreach founder Lynelle Zelnar says, “I would say Covid is still. I blame Covid for the lack of receiving care package items because businesses are still not together. They're not doing collection drives. They have other priorities."
Zelnar showed WPTV Morning Anchor Mike Trim the shelves normally stocked full at the Lake Worth warehouse.
COVID-19 is leading to extended military deployments so the need to stock the shelves is now more important than ever.
Longtime Forgotten Soldiers Outreach volunteer Ann Heller regularly helps pack donated items into boxes at the warehouse.
"The girls and boys over there need our support and I understand that there's plenty of them that don't get any mail, they don't get any packages and they need us. And we need them."
McCarthy says, trust him, the donations are needed when you're in the thick of things.
"If your toothbrush falls in the dirt, guess what, you have to pick it up and clean it off because there's no replacement," said McCarthy.
You can donate items or money to the Outreach cause by visiting the website ForgottenSoldiers.org.
Mike Trim serves on the board of directors for the organization.
