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West Michigan tree farm donates Christmas trees for troops

Posted at 4:49 PM, Dec 01, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-01 17:20:29-05

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich.--Dan Wahmhoff has been donating Christmas trees from his farm in Van Buren County to troops around the country for nearly a decade.

"We are so grateful for what our troops do for us, bring us our freedom every day of the year, they're away from their family on the holidays like this and we really like to give something back to them," Wahmhoff said.

On Monday, Wahmhoff and more than 50 volunteers loaded up 500 trees to be shipped to Fort Carson in Colorado and Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

"Our troops do so much for our country," said Senator Tonya Schuitmaker. "They protect our country, they're there in times of natural disasters and certainly these ever changing times in our country. I think it's more important than ever to make sure that we give back to our military families that do so much for this country."

Cameron Crotau is a current member of the United States Coast Guard and was also at Wahmhoff farm Monday as trees were loaded into trucks. He says donating his time to help other troops is important to him because he's able to spend the holidays with his family, unlike thousands of other troops.

"To keep everybody together, to show that we are here for one another," Crotau said.

More than 1,500 trees will be shipped to military bases across the country as part of Trees for Troops.