1,270 ‘Stockings for Soldiers’ assembled for troops overseas

Local active duty personnel hold stockings open for a Bucks IU student who is selecting items to use in filling them.

Our country’s service men and women are oftentimes stationed far away from their home, family, and friends. This can be especially difficult for them over the holidays. To show those actively serving outside the United States that they are still being thought of and their sacrifice appreciated, the students of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU) at Samuel Everitt have once again undertaken a ‘Stockings for Soldiers’ campaign.

The program was started, and is managed by, Shannon Hamilton who is a Bucks IU Intensive Autistic Support Teacher. Shannon wanted to send some holiday cheer to her brother stationed overseas in the Marines and thought of a way to make this a classroom project that would also support the educational needs of her students. In its fourth year, this program has expanded from sending a few dozen stockings, to creating and distributing 1,270 stockings! With generosity abounding through donations from far and wide, an additional 13 boxes were also able to be packed up for our troops!

The extraordinary key to this entire project is that the stockings and boxes are all assembled by students with special needs, who provide both the hands and the heart to make this all come together. Along with their teachers and support staff, an assembly line is created with each student assigned a task that best allows them to learn and practice the skills they are being taught at school. From sorting donated items, to making holiday cards, to physically collecting the items and stuffing them into the stockings, everyone is included and an integral part of making this the huge success it has become. Giving these students an opportunity to participate and show their support has taken the Stocking for Soldiers project to another level of exemplifying a spirit of caring and sharing.