HAVERHILL, Mass. — Residents of a Haverhill veterans’ home received a holiday surprise Wednesday night as volunteers delivered dozens of donated stockings.
Joseph Savio, an 89-year-old Army veteran of the Korean War, opened his Christmas stocking at the Veterans Mansion on Cedar Street, a residential facility run by Veterans Northeast Outreach Center [VNOC].
“I think it’s the best thing that you people have done for us servicemen,” Savio said to the organizers of the stocking drive, “Because we were there for you, and now you’re here for us.”
Dana DeFranco and her husband Sal DeFranco, a former Navy SEAL, began collecting the donated Christmas stockings at their coffee shop, Battle Grounds Coffee Company, with three locations in Newburyport and Haverhill. The couple asked customers and community members to donate the filled stockings as a holiday gift for veterans across the state as a reminder they are not forgotten at a time when many are struggling with loss, trauma and loneliness.
Patrons, local business owners and friends together donated more than 1,000 stockings stuffed with personal care items, gift cards, candy and more. Some include personal notes from families thanking the vets for their service.
“It gives me goosebumps,” Dana DeFranco said, in awe of the donated gifts covering the floor of the Newburyport shop Wednesday. “I have a lump in my throat when I talk about it because, I knew the community would rally behind this, but I didn’t expect it at this level. I just get so emotional about it.”
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The DeFrancos’ friend Don Jarvis, a Purple Heart recipient who volunteers for countless veteran programs and events, has been reaching out to veteran organizations to coordinate delivering the stocking surprises. Jarvis, his brother, Dan, and Dana made the Haverhill delivery Wednesday night.
“I do this as a form of therapy to help out other veterans,” Jarvis, an Army National Guard veteran, said. “I was blown up in Afghanistan by a 250-pound explosive, where I spent six months in a hospital in D.C. And when I came home, that’s when all these kinds of projects started.”
Scott Forbes, executive director of VNOC, said the holiday surprise is an important gesture to veterans during what can be a difficult season.
“It’s the little things in the community that make the biggest difference,” Forbes said. “So, being able to provide something – a little bit of kindness, a little bit of warmth, a little bit of comfort this Christmas – it’s going to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people.”
VNOC provides transitional and permanent housing for more than 120 veterans at a time, as well as services and programs including education and employment assistance.
Resident Dan Coyle, 66, a Marine Corps veteran, said the surprise delivery is touching.
“I think it’s wonderful that people care about us like they do,” Coyle said to DeFranco and the Jarvises. “If it wasn’t for organizations like yours, we’d be the forgotten people, unfortunately. But people make sure that, come Christmastime or anytime during the year, that we’re taken care of.”
Along with holiday services, the DeFrancos employ veterans and provide support and events for vets year-round.
“Being a military family, someone saying thank you and knowing you appreciate their service to the country is amazing,” DeFranco said.