Christmas Spirit Foundation - Christmas Spirit Foundation

The mission of the Christmas Spirit Foundation is to advance the Christmas Spirit for kids, families & the environment through programs & activities.

Christmas Spirit Foundation Recognizes 2026 SPIRIT AWARD Recipients

Our dedicated military members can sometimes be separated from families at annual holidays while deployed, given the average deployment period of 6-12 months – the length of which varies between branches and situations. Providing these deserving individuals, or their loved ones, waiting at home, with the comfort of a Christmas tree is a small but powerful act during the holiday season.

Since 2005, the Trees for Troops (T4T) program has continued to grow under the direction of the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation (CSF) and the daily responsibilities of the dedicated individuals involved. Whether it be sourcing trees to donate, coordinating efforts to load or unload trees, raising funds to support the program, or the pursuit of publicity, the support of T4T volunteers is immeasurable to the program’s success.

In 2018, the Trustees formalized their recognition of individuals, companies, and organizations for superlative support of the T4T program. This honor is represented by the Christmas SPIRIT Award, which is annually bestowed upon selected recipients to thank them for their creative and extraordinary support. This year, CSF recognizes four individuals for their contributions to the T4T program: Amanda Estes, a teacher at Blue Ridge Elementary School; Jeff Cady, Salt Point Fire Company; Rek’-Lis Brewing Co.; and Bank of New Hampshire – Littleton (NH) Branch. See their stories below.

Amanda Estes — Amanda Estes and her 2nd grade students at Blue Ridge Elementary, from pre-K through 6th grade, write messages and draw pictures to the many deserving military families on special tags that are attached to fresh Christmas trees donated by North Carolina farmers.

Blue Ridge Elementary students have been a special part of this project for over 10 years. And Amanda leads the effort. Amanda’s family owns Peak Farms in Ashe County, NC and Peak Farms donate trees to the Trees for Troops project every year.

She personally ensures that this happens every year by coordinating with Jennifer Greene, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association and coordinator for all the NC donated trees. Amanda distributes the tags to the teachers at her school, and then she delivers the tags to the Upper Mountain research station for the tree tagging and loading event.

Jeff Cady — Jeff Cady leads the year-long fundraising campaign of the Salt Point Fire Company, along with volunteers from the Pleasant Valley Fire District, to create a large donation of trees in the Hudson Valley area of NY state. He worked with Hahn Farms, all the fire departments in the district, local sponsors and a tree supplier to load 770 trees in 2025. Almost all of them paid for with funds raised by the team led by Jeff.

He continues to strive for more community support including local businesses to do a months-long campaign to raise money for tree donations. This is in addition to the fire department doing a “boots” fundraising campaign all summer. Jeff represents an amazing example of getting a whole community involved in helping Trees for Troops be successful.

On the scheduled day for picking up the donated trees, Jeff and the SPFC organize a large contingent of local volunteers.

Rek’-Lis Brewing Company — Ian Dowling and Marlaina Renton with Rek’-Lis Brewing Company in Bethlehem, NH have raised money with special events as well as through brewing a Trees for Troops branded beer. The seasonal brew, a red ale that is brewed with spruce tips, has become so popular that it was released statewide this past year.

They have held several events at the brewery including spirit tastings where the profits all go to buy trees for the following year's program. They have taken the time to video and then promote the program both before the season starts and this past year as the loading of donated trees was taking place.

Littleton Branch of Bank of NH — The Littleton Branch of Bank of NH is a very philanthropic bank supporting many programs that support people in different ways. When asked to support Trees for Troops many years ago they simply said “yes”, not only by buying trees to donate but by encouraging staff members each year to help on the loading day.

They also have staff write personal messages on the special tags attached to the trees each year which adds that special touch for the military families receiving the sponsored trees. The bank is a great example of how local community businesses get involved to support the program by working with a local tree farm.