Army veterans spread holiday cheer at Washington City Mission
Courtesy of Gary Porter
Members of the 336th Military Police Battalion out of Pittsburgh served as Santa’s helpers when they delivered Christmas gifts to the Washington City Mission. Pictured, from left: James Woodbury, Sam Granillo, Aaron McKinney and Cory Chiocca.
Courtesy of Gary Porter
James Woodbury, Cory Chiocca, Sam Granillo and Aaron McKinney sport Santa hats with their Army uniforms during a toy donation drop-off at the City Mission Women with Children Shelter Wednesday.
Courtesy of Gary Porter
Santa’s elves arrive to the City Mission wearing Army uniforms and holiday hats, with bags of Christmas toys slung over the shoulders for youth living at the Women with Children Shelter. Cory Chiocca, left, and James Woodbury enjoyed dropping off the donation made possible by their 336th Military Police Battalion and the greater community.
Santa’s helpers – Army veterans from the 336th Military Police Battalion in Pittsburgh – arrived to the Washington City Mission sporting bright red hats and ear-to-ear smiles.
The area vets were grinning because, slung over their shoulders, were black bags filled with brand-new Christmas presents for the 16 kids who call City Mission’s Women with Children Shelter “home.”
“It was amazing,” said Sgt. Cory Chiocca, of Washington, who spearheaded the toy drive. “I loved it. You never forget where you started, you never forget where you came from. If you can make one person’s day better from the same background, then why not?”
When Chiocca first decided to host a toy drive at the beginning of the holiday season, he expected his battalion to show up. But he didn’t anticipate the outpouring of support from the wider community.
“Growing up, my mom was battling cancer, so we spent a lot of nights in the hospital,” said Chiocca, who never forgot the generosity of folks as he celebrated holidays in the hospital. “We sort of toy drived at my unit – it was a team effort. I realized we could do better, so I wrote a Facebook post. The community, veterans I’ve served with overseas, they were all sending me toys. It really took off. I wasn’t really expecting the community to come together as it did. We filled a big Triplex box, we even overfilled that. It was just amazing what one Facebook post could do.”
Amazing, too, is what one act of kindness can do for a mother or child living at the City Mission. The 336th Battalion collected so many brand-new toys that a surplus will benefit the City Mission’s Samaritan Care Center.
“I’m just moved by the outpouring, that someone would do this for us,” said Sheila Namy, City Mission Manager of Women and Children Services. “It’s greater than a gift. It makes a lasting memory for (the kids) while they’re here. We can’t do that without these types of donations.”
Namy said for many living at the Women and Children Shelter, Christmas used to arrive without fanfare and sometimes went uncelebrated as they fought to survive domestic abuse, battled addiction or struggled to make ends meet due to poverty. For them, Christmas has never been about pretty packages.
“The mission, blessed with this type of donation, can make these kids absolutely not aware that they’re in a homeless shelter,” Namy said. “It’s a family here. We’re able to give them that family.”
Washington’s Connor McGinnis, specialist in the U.S. Army and member of the 336th Battalion, connected Chiocca to the City Mission, and said the battalion’s donation meant a lot to him, too.
“In the Army, we’re all from different backgrounds. A lot of us experienced difficulty at this time of year in our youth. We like to give back where we can. At this point, in 2022, the difficulties over the last couple years – everything got increasingly harder. It was good to give back to our local community,” he said.
Chiocca said the response to this year’s toy drive was so encouraging, he hopes to make the Christmas gift donation an annual tradition.
Namy reiterated that the generosity of people like Chiocca and the battalion, people who don’t know those whose lives they are touching, makes moments like Wednesday’s toy delivery so special.
“Just knowing that people out there just truly care, people just want to give and help those that don’t have the ability to give – it’s very humbling,” she said.