Fall into the Holidays with the Morton's Giving Tree for United for the Troops

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Morton's The Steakhouse, Statewide Abstract, JP Morgan Chase, and Dillon & Dillon have all teamed up to support one of the area's most appreciated organizations. United for the Troops is a non profit, non political and non denominational organization whose sole purpose is to send much needed care packages to soldiers overseas.

"While stationed in Iraq my son Luke told us about the importance of receiving care packages and also mentioned that many soldiers never received even one package and we knew we had to change that," stated Jim Rathschmidt, a resident of Mahopac. "To date we have mailed more than 5,500 boxes to soldiers around the world."

Last year Morton's held an event to collect items to ship overseas and the local community was very generous, donating three carloads of personal supplies. They quickly learned however that the organization also needed funding to cover the actual shipping costs of each box, normally anywhere from $10 - $20. So Kim O'Donnell of Morton's and Karinta DiMartino of Statewide decided to hold another event this year to raise the money needed to ship boxes this holiday season.

"We are thrilled to be able to assist this dedicated organization," stated Kim O'Donnell, Sales and Marketing Manager of Morton's The Steakhouse in White Plains. "We thought it would be a great idea to create a giving tree for fall where people can purchase leaves on the tree for $15.00 each. Each leaf represents one package that will be able to be shipped," she added.

To participate, individuals should visit Morton's The Steakhouse between October 19th and December 5th to purchase a leaf. One hundred percent of the $15.00 will go directly to United for the Troops to cover shipping costs of one care package. On December 6th, Morton's will be the site for another big event to present the check for all the leaves purchased to United for the Troops.

"We are anticipating a huge turnout for our culmination event at Morton's," said Karinta DiMartino. "Last year we had over 100 people in attendance and this year we expect even more." People will be able to also purchase leaves that evening. The event on December 6th will run from 5:30 until 7:30 PM with a cash bar and complimentary Morton's appetizers.

For more information about United for the Troops, visit www.unitedforthetroops.org or send an email to unitedforthetroops@gmail.com. To register for the event on December 6th, contact Kim O'Donnell at Morton's at 914-683-6101 or visit www.mortons.com/whiteplains.

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