Paratroopers donate over 1,500 toys to children in need for Christmas

On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, took part in the second annual All-American Presents from Paratroopers (A2P2) toy unit, donating 1,500 to 2,000 toys to children in need.

The event was held in partnership with the Travis Mills Foundation, an organization that treats families of injured military veterans on vacation getaways in Maine.

By donating a toy, each paratrooper was automatically entered into a special lottery to participate in a parachute jump with a member of the Chilean army. About 600 of the paratroopers won the award, earning a special foreign patch for their uniforms for their commitment.

The foundation plans to give the toys to several organizations across the state, including Fort Bragg USO, North Carolina Children’s Home Society, Armed Services YMCA, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department, and Fayetteville Urban Ministry, the publication says.

To qualify for the special jump, soldiers had to be assigned to an airborne unit and in active jumping status, although active officers from the North Carolina National Guard and the Army Reserve could participate as well, Army Times reported.

The paratroopers made helicopter jumps for one day and cargo planes for another in two designated release zones. The vehicles operated at reduced capacity and all participants wore masks to reduce the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Newsweek reached out to the Travis Mills Foundation for comment.

The Travis Mills Foundation isn’t the only state organization to donate to North Carolina children in need during the holidays.

The North Carolina Community Action Association, a group dedicated to helping poor families across the state, is organizing a 12-day Christmas challenge so they can distribute gifts and boxes of food to families in need. Care packages average around $ 15 per individual and $ 100 per family.

North Carolina ranks 11th among the US states with the highest rates of child poverty, according to the US Census Bureau. The data showed that children in the state experience poverty at a rate of 21.2% and that children in rural counties and the eastern region of the state were more likely to live in poverty.

According to NC Child, a state child advocacy organization, about 43 percent of all North Carolina children live in poor or low-income families. The organization reported that child poverty increases a child’s chances of having less success in school, greater exposure to violence, hunger, abuse and neglect, and parents trapped in the justice system.