JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars is specific. It welcomes servicemembers who saw combat overseas, but during the holidays at Post 4548 in Jacksonville, the doors open so wide that it feels like everyone is a member.
"This is how we give back to our veterans and the families of our deceased veterans, and [how] we also support the community," said Post Commander Marc Calcaterra, describing the annual plan to distribute meal boxes for Christmas.
"The baskets are the general food items needed for Christmas dinner: turkey, ham, potatoes, carrots, everything to make a Christmas dinner," he said before noting, "Everything except the cooking."
Some of the members could handle that job too if they had to.
The drive and packing effort goes back years and is a focal point on the calendar for both the post and the auxiliary.
"We're here to support the post membership and programs that we all do," said Lisa Tripp, President of the Post Auxiliary,
Tripp's role is crucial -- the post auxiliary is how family of VFW members serve and further their missions.
"With the [Little Rock] air force base thing right here, we have a lot of veterans that live here that aren't necessarily members of our post," she said. "So we try to take care of everybody."
Thus, the list of people selected to receive a gift box can include veterans and non-veterans in need.
When the frozen meats arrive, the post approaches, putting them together with as you might expect, military precision.
"We do an assembly line, just like a Ford Motor plant," said Tripp. "Everybody comes through and they check in and pick up their things at different locations and go on their way."
That assembly line fires up soon, giving the post and its members a head start of fulfilling a mission and filling the community with some holiday spirit.
"I always look forward to it because the gratefulness we get from the families is just very heartwarming to see them, and the way they respond is just ... it's more than worth it," said Calcaterra.
"We do try to make a balance of reaching out into the community, because we're all part of the same big world here," said Tripp.
In addition to the assembly line, the post will be open at noon on Thanksgiving offering a free meal to pretty much anyone, with an eye on attracting airmen and contractors serving at the base while far from home.