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Donation drive and celebration scheduled in Helena for Military Appreciation Month

Posted at 7:02 PM, May 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-15 21:04:08-04

Montana Supporting Military is gearing up for events this weekend in support of Military Appreciation Month.

On Saturday, May 18, the group will team up with businesses across Helena for a community-wide donation drive.

They’ll gather much-needed items for troops overseas, including powdered drink mix, beef jerky, crew socks, eye drops and protein bars.

Later Saturday evening, there will be an Armed Forces Appreciation Celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. at Lewis and Clark Brewing’s taproom.

The people involved with Montana Supporting Military said they look forward to the donations. They added financial donations also help send items to the troops.

“We’re going to continue accepting donations the whole year through,” said Andy Shirtliff with Montana Supporting Military. “And absolutely, monetary donations.  It is $50 a box to send these items over to our men and women, it’s worth it, and we appreciate it.”

Lianne Meyer, Montana Supporting Military founder and president, added, “We take care of about a thousand troops at a time, throughout the year, some come home, and more go over.  So it just keeps rotating that way. We’ll be doing the Aviation National Guard unit, the 189th, they’re deploying later this year and the RED HORSE Squadron out of Malmstrom. We take care of, like I say, all the branches.”

Some of the donation drive locations may be subject to change depending on the weather. You can purchase and donate items at several locations across Helena including at Albertsons, Capital Sports, Safeway, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Van’s Thriftway, Walmart Helena, and Super 1 Foods.

Visit the Montana Supporting Military Facebook page for more information.

-Reported by Melissa Jensen/MTN News