Veterans will be collecting items to ship overseas

Local veterans organizations will places drop boxes downtown Saturday to collect items to be sent to military personnel stationed overseas.

Smoked oysters and sardines, pasta, hot chocolate, inflatable seat cushions, toiletries and AA batteries are among the items on a list distributed by Cherokee County Veterans Affairs Officer Todd Humphries. There is a need for long distance phone cards, snack food and other comforts from home to members of the armed services in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The Veteran Appreciation Park committee will have dropoff boxes at the Veterans Day parade,” Humphries said. “We will be shipping these items over for the holidays to servicemen and women that are currently deployed.”

County residents are asked to place items in drop boxes placed in various locations along the Veterans Day parade route. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Thomson Park and run through downtown Gaffney before disbanding on Railroad Avenue.

The collection drive comes as work continues on a Cherokee County Veterans Appreciation Park on Montgomery Street. The park will have walls engraved with the names of all local veterans who have been honorably discharged.

“We have nearly 5,000 veterans in Cherokee County,” Humphries said. “Veterans Day is a time to say thank you to our veterans for their service to the country.”

The Veterans Day parade lineup includes appearances by the Rolling Thunder patriot riders, the National Guard, and the Hejaz Warriors. Following the parade, a veterans program will be held at 11 a.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at the corner of Logan and Granard streets.