'Joy to the World' from Bethlehem to Aghanistan

BETHLEHEM - A Barrow County woman and her extended family are sending a bit of Christmas joy overseas - to a group of soldiers in a war zone.

They call their effort "Joy to the World."

Debbie Reihl of Bethlehem and a sister, Janine Liakos of Dallas, Georgia, came up with the idea.

"We were talking about Christmas shopping for our families and how lucky we were (we decided) nobody really needs anything and wants anything," Reihl said. "So, we decided (with) our country being at war...there were other people who needed things worse
than we did."

Family members agreed to the effort and everyone decided to spend what they would have spent on each other on the 65 members of an Army unit in Afghanistan. The exceptions are the small children in the family. They will get Christmas presents this year.

But, already Reihl, her sister and other relatives have mailed more than $4,000 worth of merchandise to the soldiers.

Reihl said for a time they considered helping the hurricane victims in Florida but "the soldiers won out."

"My sister has a friend whose brother is in Afghanistan," she said, and they chose the soldiers in his group, the 125th Military Intelligence Battalion. "We sent 65 packages in 33 boxes to 65 soldiers a few weeks ago on October 30."

Reihl says the effort will not end with Christmas.

"As a family, we are going to continue to do this. "We hope to continue to send one or two boxes a month to these soldiers."

Though it started as a family project, friends and businesses in the Winder area and elsewhere have been chipping in as word of what they are doing spread.

Among the items in the packages that have been shipped so far are Christmas lights for tents, wool socks, wool gloves, peanuts, sunflower seeds, Kool Aid, disposable razors and razor blades, disposable cameras, toothpaste, shampoo, candy, magazines, and books.

They have not forgotten the soldiers' families either. They have sent items to them, as well.

An email address has been set up if you would like more information or if you would like to find out how you can help:

It's [email protected].