THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
Page 14
The Rockaway Times
To Our Armed Forces: Merry Christmas From Morgan Allen By Katie McFadden
A group of new recruits are being deployed to the Middle East with one mission—to spread Christmas cheer to military members spending the holidays away from home. A home in Broad Channel has been transformed into Santa’s workshop, where nine-year-old Morgan Allen is hard at work playing Special Ops Santa. The P.S. 47 fifth-grader is putting in some extra work between school and homework, to make sure that deployed members of the U.S. Airforce and Marines have themselves a merry little Christmas this year. Over the summer, this crafty kid decided to put her skills to work by starting a business making personalized gifts, from t-shirts to wine glasses and tote bags, calling it Morgan’s Marvelous Crafts. This holiday season, she added elves to her inventory, personalizing red and green elves with the names requested by those who place orders. The adorable holiday gift goes for just $5, so it’s no wonder orders have been pouring in from friends, family, neighbors and others who’ve come across her Morgan’s Marvelous Crafts Facebook page. When the family of her cousin, Sean, an Airman for the U.S. Airforce, placed an order, she decided to give Sean’s elf a special touch by adding the U.S. Airforce symbol to its hat, making for the perfect gift for his return from a recent two-month deployment. “He loved it,” Allen said. Seeing how happy it made her cousin, Allen had an even bigger idea for the little elves. Why not put smiles on the faces of more military members? Allen went back to the workshop. Now she has 100 elves, personalized with U.S. Airforce symbols, patiently waiting to deploy to the Middle East to bring some Christmas cheer to Airmen who will be away from their families this Christmas. But why stop there? She’s also making 100 more with the U.S. Marines symbol on their hats to send to Marines. “I thought it would be nice for
them to know that we’re thinking of them over the holiday season since they can’t be with their families. My Pop Pop was a Marine in Vietnam and I thought it would be nice to make some for the Marines as well as the Airmen. They’re out there keeping us safe and it’s important for them to know that we’re thankful for them,” Allen said. That message will be even more clear by something extra special inside the package of elves. Along with her idea, Allen thought it would be nice to get her schoolmates involved. She gave a letter to her principal at P.S. 47, asking if kids in the school could make personalized cards and notes to thank the soldiers this holiday season. “I wanted to get my classmates involved because I thought it would be nice to have little notes that said we were thinking of them over the holidays,” Allen said. The response was overwhelming. “Thank You for protecting our country. God bless you. Have a Happy Holidays” says one card. “You are Strong. You are Brave. You have Courage every day you go out and fight for us. So, this is for you to wish you a Merry Christmas,” says another. The similar words of encouragement and thanks are seen throughout the colorful cards that have drawings of flags, Christmas trees and
·
To advertise in THE ROCKAWAY TIMES call 718-634-3030 ads@RockawayTimes.com
more. “Almost my whole school gave me cards,” Allen said. “I’m happy that they all made them for the people in the military because it shows that everyone, not just a couple people, are thinking of them.” Allen is collecting the cards and putting the finishing touches on her elves through Thursday, December 5, which she’ll pack in a box that she’s personally decorating, to be delivered to the troops. The box will go to her cousin, Sean, who will bring it to his base in New Jersey, to send on a plane with fellow Airmen who are being deployed to the Middle East
next week. However, the Marine elves will be heading to another destination. “A friend of mine has a Marine friend deployed in Japan so we’re waiting for the address to hopefully send them out by next Friday, so they get them before the holidays,” Erica Allen, Morgan’s mother said. Morgan hopes her elves bring a special message to those who
are deployed when they receive them. “I hope that they’re happy and grateful that people, even though they don’t know them and most of them are strangers, still care for them and we’re thankful that they’re helping to protect our country,” she said. Morgan’s efforts are something that would make any parent beam. “I’m so outrageously proud of her,” Erica Allen said. “She is so considerate and thoughtful. We had talked about giving back around the holidays. My dad was a Marine. My husband was in the Army. Her great grandpa was in the Army, and now her cousin is an Airman, so she’s always been very appreciative of our armed forces and I’m so proud that she’s taking her time to do this.” In addition to making the military elves, Allen is continuing to take and fulfill orders for personalized gift elves. The money that she’s raised has made it possible to purchase the additional elves for the military members. “I think it’s pretty awesome for a nine-year-old kid to not only be willing to give up some of that profit, but to be excited about doing it,” Erica Allen said. Since the effort requires a lot of hard work, Morgan has recruited some elves of her own to help, including her parents, her older brother, Daniel, her little sister, Sydney, and her friend, Ava. Together, they’ve turned it into a family-fun activity. “My whole house is inundated with elves,” Erica Allen said. “We all wear elf ears and listen to Christmas music while we make the elves, while Morgan wears a Santa hat, because she’s in charge." While the effort will continue, Morgan Allen will be hanging up her Santa hat to take a break in a few weeks. After all, she has another big occasion to prepare for before Santa arrives—she’ll be turning 10 on December 17. If interested in buying personalized elves as a gift or dropping off cards to be sent along with the military elves, reach out to Allen on the “Morgan’s Marvelous Crafts” Facebook page.