Free UPS service to ‘forgotten places’

Shopping during the holiday season can get expensive enough without having to factor in the cost of shipping the item overseas. However, thanks to a new service provided by the UPS store located at 2452 S. Walnut St., customers such as sophomore Kristen Jones won’t have to worry about shipping costs when preparing packages for her brother and boyfriend, who both serve in the military. \nThis holiday season, this UPS store is attempting to help spread some holiday cheer by offering free shipping to military bases, nursing homes, children’s homes and children’s hospitals, Josh Congrove, who works at the store, said. \n“These are the places that during Christmas we should do the most to help people remember, these places that may be forgotten,” Congrove said. “(It’s a) time for us to show our appreciation for people in these places.”\nFor many individuals, the holidays are a time spent with loved ones. But for individuals in places such as nursing homes and military bases, contact and gifts from friends and family aren’t always a guarantee.\n“In past years, I’ve always noticed around the holidays residents are anxiously looking for cards, letters and gifts,” said Fritz Oehler, executive director at the Golden Living Center in Bloomington. “Our residents many times don’t have a lot of contact with out-of-town family and friends.”\nGolden Living Center also encourages anonymous gifts. It has a Christmas tree with the names of residents hung on it and anyone who comes in can pick a name off of the tree and get a gift for that person, Oehler said. Also, if people just want to send gifts without a specific intended recipient, the activity and social service departments at the nursing home will give it to someone who hasn’t received a gift this season. \n“It may not seem like a big deal to you or me, but to the person you’re sending your gift to, there’s no way to put the value into words,” sophomore Derek Hutton said. “I’d use the service, and hopefully the person who would get my gift would feel worlds better because of it.”\nJones’ brother is currently serving overseas with the U.S. Marine Corps, while her boyfriend was deployed abroad last year and has since returned.\n“It’s a really nice program to do,” Jones said. “They don’t get a lot over there and they run out of things easily. People don’t think to send basic things because they think they are supplied with them.”\nLast year, Jones asked students in her dorm to join in and help organize letters and packages for soldiers who served overseas with her boyfriend in the Army. The free shipping service UPS is offering makes projects such as these easier and cheaper, allowing more individuals to participate, she said. For students who are interested in doing something similar, Jones suggested sending basic items such as toiletries and shampoo.\n“People want to send the cute things, which is nice, but they need the necessitates,” Jones said.\nThe South Walnut Street UPS store will offer this service Nov. 19 through Dec. 21 or until the store has spent $2,007 on the free shipping. Congrove encouraged early shipping to ensure customers can take advantage of the program.