Ken Hauser has chaired the VFW’s Operation Christmas Cheer project for veterans at the Lovell Health Care Center in North Chicago for more than 25 years, and he is going out on a high note this year.
This is the 50th season that the VFW has delivered gifts and holiday cheer to the Veteran’s Administration hospital in North Chicago through Operation Christmas Cheer, and Hauser has presided over more than half of them.
The honor, which brings with it about six months of preparation work each year, will be difficult to pass along, Hauser said Tuesday.
“It hasn’t hit me yet. I don’t want to think about it,” Hauser said, but vowed this year will be the best project yet, delivering about 275 gift boxes to veterans at the Lovell Center, as well as Christmas carols and companionship.
“Every one, each year, is a notch better,” Hauser said of the project, which relies on cash and gift donations from VFW posts across both Lake and McHenry counties, as well as individual donors.
The boxes include fresh fruit, socks, games, books, gift cards and other items to make the holidays nicer for the veterans. Usually each delivery is followed by a trading session, as the veterans haggle for items that suit their needs from the varying gift boxes, each valued at more than $50, according to Hauser.
“When they get their boxes, I’ve seen their eyes light up, just like a kid at Christmas,” Hauser said.
Hauser, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Army, is now chaplain for the VFW 5th District, which covers all of Lake and McHenry counties. He also serves as chaplain for the Marine Corps League and helps with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive.
But at 72, Hauser said it is time for him to spend more time with his family and pass the Operation Christmas Cheer leadership torch along.
“We’re looking for someone young who can start in June (each year) to help with donations and sending out letters,” he said.
“It’s a big hole, but we’ll find someone,” Carl Sorensen, quartermaster of the VFW post in Grayslake and a public relations volunteer for the project, said of Hauser’s retirement as chairman.
More Top Picks Helmets Baseballs
This year, all of the gift box supplies will be assembled at the VFW post in McHenry by an army of volunteers from both counties on Dec. 9, and then delivered to the Lovell Center on Dec. 10.
Helping out on both days, as usual, will be members of the Waukegan High School ROTC program.
“If it wasn’t for their help, we couldn’t do this,” Hauser said of the ROTC cadets. “We’re not getting younger. They do the lifting. They are very polite, and very hard workers.”
This year, the veterans will get special 50th anniversary Operation Christmas Cheer t-shirts and mugs along with the usual gift box.
Operation Christmas Cheer is still accepting monetary donations and gifts, especially new and used DVDs, through Dec. 1. Hauser said the veterans really appreciate getting movies to watch.
Donations can be dropped off at McHenry VFW Post 4600, 3002 W. Route 120 in McHenry.