Photo Gallery
Our Photo Gallery is more than just pictures, it’s a visual story of service, compassion, and community impact. Among our proudest initiatives is the Military Gifting Program (MILGIF), a project born from a heartfelt request in 2007.
That year, we received a message from a U.S. Army unit of eighty-nine soldiers, both men and women, stationed in Iraq. They asked for personal hygiene items they couldn’t obtain locally. Answering the call, the Yonkers Lions Club launched MILGIF, a small act of service that grew into something extraordinary.
Over the years, this program expanded to support U.S. Army and Marine Corps units with as many as 500 personnel each, deployed across Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. We coordinated with military leaders, local merchants, manufacturers, and generous sponsors to assemble and ship pallets of essential hygiene and comfort items.
Through eight deployments, MILGIF became a powerful example of what’s possible when communities unite for a cause. Our gallery showcases these moments: care packages being assembled, partnerships in action, and the gratitude of those we served.
We Serve. Think Big. Work Smart.
From a single request to a program of remarkable growth, MILGIF stands as a testament to the generosity of our patriotic supporters and the spirit of the Yonkers Lions Club.
OWING ENTIRELY TO THE LARGESS OF ITS GENEROUS PATRIOTIC SUPPORTERS, MILGIF EXPERIENCED ALMOST MAGICAL GROWTH, FROM ITS VERY SERENDIPITOUS BEGINNING.
OUR MILITARY LIAISONS EMAIL US THEIR REQUESTS FROM OVERSEAS
We began with $300.00, operating out of a small spare bedroom in a member’s home in the Bronx.
In 2007, we responded to a U.S. Army Sergeant’s request for personal hygiene items needed by his unit of 89 male and female Soldiers in Iraq.
In need of more space, now gifting multiple U.S. Army combat infantry units totaling 500 Soldiers operating in the remote regions of Afghanistan, we moved operations temporarily to a member’s law office in Yonkers.
Still growing, we moved again to a larger temporary workspace which was located in the basement of a member-owned restaurant in Hawthorne, NY. This enabled us to process a greater volume of freight.
The Rear Detachment Commanding Officer personally led the receiving operation at the Armory, where other deliveries were also received during this deployment.
Club members and other volunteers repack and stage freight for pick up by U.S. Postal Service.
Simultaneously gifting a US Army unit in Iraq, and a USMC unit operating in the Horn of Africa, B Battery 1 BN 258th Field Artillery NYARNG, offered MILGIF permanent workspace in its Kingsbridge Armory located in Bronx, NY.
Working out of our new home in Kingsbridge Armory, and with help from the 258th Field Artillery’s Soldiers, it took just 72
hours to turn this large amount of freight around, and send it on its way
to the U.S. Army Signal Corps unit in Iraq that was excitedly awaiting its arrival.
MILITARY UNITS WE’VE GIFTED DURING EIGHT DEPLOYMENTS SINCE 2007, AND SOME OF OUR COUNTLESS GRATEFUL RECIPIENTS.
(KEY: FOB – Forward Operating Base, COP – Combat Outpost)
UNITED STATES ARMY
4TH Brigade Combat Team 10TH Mountain Division COP Jaghato, Afghanistan 22 JAN 2011
|
16th Signal Company (TIN) “Copperheads”
a unit of
11th Signal Brigade “Thunderbirds” Fort Hood, TX
