Christmas Collection for Jake & His Unit in Iraq

If you are a regular diner at the Franklin Inn, your server may often be Kim Woods. Kim is the proud mother of five children who have also worked at the Franklin Inn at some point over the years. Her children might have greeted you and seated you, prepped or cooked your meal, served you, or washed your dishes. The faces of the Woods girls, Jenny and LeeAnn, might be familiar to you, but behind the scenes contributing to your delicious meal on any given night, could have been one of her sons, Jake.

Jake Woods is currently serving us in Wajihia, Iraq with the 2nd Battalion 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters Company. Franklin Inn patrons (I knew we had the best customers!) have spontaneously offered items to Kim for the weekly care packages she sends overseas. Hot sauce from the Franklin Inn has traveled to Iraq in one of these boxes! It got me to thinking that more of the Inn's patrons might like the opportunity to show support of our Service Men and Women and their families in a personal and tangible way. We could all pitch in and send a huge Christmas Care Package to show Jake and his Unit how much we appreciate them. When I discussed this idea with her to make sure it would be okay to make you all aware of Jake's service, Kim said, "Whatever you can do would be appreciated."

I asked Kim to give me some specific ideas which are below, but she says "Whatever he gets in a package is appreciated. Most of it - I think - is just the thrill of getting a package at all. It helps him to know that we haven't forgotten him and we appreciate the sacrifice he's made. It's tough to not be home for Christmas."

Some things that the soldiers like to receive are:

• Drink mixes in the individual drink bottle packages.
• Any snack food like peanuts, pistachios, chips (lunch size), cereal bars, pop tarts, rice krispie treats, chocolate pudding, sandwich crackers etc. Dry cereal is a big hit!
• Quick meals like cup-a-soup and Easy Mac are great.
• DVD's are appreciated - new or used.

Kim says that any size is fine - "warehouse club size" to "grocery store size."

If you would like to contribute to a Christmas Care Package for Jake and his Unit, please bring your items to the Franklin Inn by December 15th to ensure the items make it to Iraq by Christmas. Due to the limited space at the Inn, we can't place a visible collection box in the dining room, so please give your donation to any of the Inn staff. We'll have a designated spot in John's office. If your donation is large or over sized or if you have further questions about a particular item's viability, please email Kim Woods directly.

Thank you in advance for your gift to our troops and particularly Jake Woods. The Woods Family and Jake's Franklin Inn Family appreciate your support. May your contribution be as much of a blessing to you as it will be for our loved ones in Iraq.