Miami, FL — In the spirit of the holiday season, volunteers from the American Red Cross Greater Miami & The Keys are being joined by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in distributing stockings to the men and women recovering at the Miami VA Healthcare System on Wednesday, December 23.

As part of our Stockings for the Troops initiative, volunteers recently joined the Red Cross at the Wings Over Miami Air Museum to stuff the stockings with toiletries, socks, hand sanitizers, and puzzle books – some of the essentials that our veterans need to pass the time in the hospital.

Wednesday's trip follows a long-standing tradition at the American Red Cross of caring for our nation's service men and women. From July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, your American Red Cross delivered 989 emergency messages from service men and women serving anywhere in the world back to their families here in South Florida through our Service to the Armed Forces program.

To learn more about our Stockings for the Troops program click here, and to learn more about Service to the Armed Forces, click here.