By JIM MARSH

Special to The Press

Trudy Unangst, of Bath, has a real soft spot in her heart for military families.

Unangst feels military service members and their families do not always get the respect they once did.

She feels strongly men and women who have fought and died “for me and for my family” need to know they are respected and their service to support our way of life is not forgotten or taken for granted.

Unangst and her husband, Roger, run Unangst Tree Farm, 7300 Beth-Bath Pike, Bath, and October is the time of year their 112-acre farmland opens to the public for family memories with a corn maze, pumpkin patches, hay rides, petting zoo, farm market and concession stands.

September and October are also when the Keystone Military Families organization, headquartered in Shoemakersville, Berks County, collects items to be used in the group’s Stockings for Soldiers program.

When Unangst saw an article in the Northampton Press a few years back that talked of the program, she immediately saw a way she could help support the group’s efforts.

She saw a “perfect match” between the farm’s fall activities and the military families support program.

She used her Facebook promotional posts to let customers know Unangst Tree Farm was a drop-off point for items that would go into the stockings and be shipped to troops overseas.

Through the farm’s fall 2018 season, Unangst was able to collect a truck load of items to provide to the KMF organizers.

Last year, the donations dropped off at the Unangst farm doubled - two truck loads of items were donated.

A wish list is published each year by the KMF group to help structure the donations. Included are snack items such as power bars, crackers, cookies, seed and nut packets and other comfort items.

K-cups, sunscreen, ChapSticks®, vitamins and protein powder, gloves, hand warmers and socks are also requested items.

The holiday packages go to all branches of the military and to locations in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, ships at sea and any other troop locations that request support from home.

This year, KMF is also requesting monetary donations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing that as a way to offset diminished activities associated with former drop-off points that are more restrictive this year.

Organizers intend to use the funds to buy needed items in bulk and make it easier to sanitize large boxes containing the Christmas stockings full of personal items for the troops.

For Unangst, her involvement in the Stockings for Soldiers program provides “a small way to live out the respect” she feels for military personnel away from their families over the holidays.

Service members and their families also receive a military discount for fall activities, foodstuffs and produce at the farm.

Unangst posts “grateful Thursday” social media posts to encourage drop-offs on that weekday.

Unangst gets emotional when she talks of the respect and gratitude she feels for her country’s military.

“America is as great as it is because of the sacrifices our military has always made,” she said. “Every day I’m breathing I’m grateful for the country I live in and the benefits I have living here.

“I will continue to support this program as long as it exists. It’s just a small token of thanks I can share with our soldiers and their families.”

Anyone wanting more information on the Stockings for Soldiers program, or to donate, can go to keystonemilitaryfamilies.com.

Editor’s Note: If you know someone who should be featured as a Lehigh Valley Health Network Community Partner, email dgalbraith@tnonline.com.