Becker Village Mall and its Kidz Klub are collecting items to send to the troops, beginning with holidays and continuing year round, mall owner Ellen Heaton said today.
The Kidz Club will have its second Saturday event in November at the Dallas Jones Roanoke Valley Veterans Center where they will listen to veterans and see the exhibits at the museum.
Collection bins will be placed at the mall and a variety of items are needed, from bottled water and playing cards to mist machines and sunscreen. A complete list of items for deployed troops can be obtained at the veterans center.
Members of the club will be responsible for sending notes to the troop and the mall is trying to collect a list of names of local soldiers who are overseas. “Just not for Christmas,” Heaton said, “But maybe once a quarter. It depends on the quantity of items we collect.”
Heaton hopes the correspondence with the soldiers will lead to a bond between the troops and the children, who are preschool aged to 10-years-old. “It’s our goal at the mall to make the mall a family centered place. We hope the children can start a connection with them.”
The Kidz Klub meets from 11 a.m. to noon every second Saturday of the month.
For more information call the mall at 252-537-9040.
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