Bus crash in western Russia kills 4, leaves 11 injured

Japan adopts green growth plan to go carbon free by 2050

KINGSTON &mdash; For seven years, the 29 American Legions in Luzerne County have thrown a Christmas party for the residents of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Plains Township, complete with food, singing, balloons and a whole lot of fun.
				COVID-19 may have made that party impossible this year, but that wasn&rsquo;t going to stop the Legion from doing everything they could to make this Christmas a very, very merry one for the veterans.
				Just as they did for Veterans Day last month, members of the Legion gathered at the Black Diamond American Legion Post 395 in Kingston to assemble goodies and treats to send up to the hospital as a Christmas present and an expression of love and gratitude for the hospital&rsquo;s residents.
				&ldquo;When I started to plan and organize this the day after Veterans Day, we wanted all of our comrades at the VA to feel the love from those of us who love them so much,&rdquo; said Nicole Guest, the canteen fund manager for District 12 of the American Legion. &ldquo;We all wanted to make Christmas as special as we could for them since we could not be in there with them.&rdquo;
				In addition to the actual assembling and packing of the goodies, the Legion members who volunteered to help out assembled in the parking lot behind the building to film a special video that would be shown to the veterans in their rooms at the hospital.
				Inside the Legion, the room looked just like past Christmas parties at the VA: red and green balloons and decorations as far as the eye could see, a Christmas tree in the corner and tons of banners and posters, including a banner bearing the name of the whole operation: &ldquo;Operation: Christmas Love Letter,&rdquo; a name befitting the outpouring of love the Legion has consisently demonstrated for veterans.
				One wall had posters full of signatures from Legion members across all 29 Legion locations in Luzerne County, and additional signatures from Legion Post 859 in Newfoundland, part of District 15 in Wayne County.
				The operation was smooth and seamless, with a small handful of volunteers working to get everything ready to be delivered to the VA. Even Santa Claus made a quick stop in Kingston to help out the cause.
				Some of the items included baked goods from Schiel&rsquo;s Family Market, some snacks, and personalized Christmas cards. The vets also received $500 worth of canteen books to be used for a special game of Christmas Bingo.
				Among the volunteers was 16-year-old Ava Groth, who&rsquo;s done a lot of work with the junior auxiliary at Legion post 781 in Mountain Top.
				&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s important for young people to know that they could be involved with the Legion, and that they could help our the vets, too,&rdquo; Groth said.
				Also on hand was the commander of the Black Diamond Legion, Rich Pries. Pries had nothing but praise for his fellow Legion members and for Guest.
				&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t thank her [Guest] enough for all the work she puts in,&rdquo; Pries said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always happy to help and to open the Legion for a cause like this.&rdquo;
				The Legion also prepared some goods to be delivered for New Year&rsquo;s, as well.
				Food for the volunteers was provided by Mission BBQ, who Guest says has been a wonderful partner for the past couple of months.
				&ldquo;They [Mission BBQ] have donated food numerous numerous times to our veterans at the VA in all of the different wards,&rdquo; Guest said. &rdquo; They&rsquo;ve fed our volunteers numerous times&#8230;it&rsquo;s been a wonderful partnership.&rdquo;
				The Legion members expressed hope that they would be back having parties in the VA recreation room as soon as it&rsquo;s safe, and everyone involved shared the same loving sentiment for the veterans at the VA.
				&ldquo;Even though we can&rsquo;t see them right now, we carry them in our hearts every single day and pray for them,&rdquo; Guest said.
				&ldquo;They are our brothers and sisters and we will never leave them behind.&rdquo;

“Operation: Christmas Love Letter” brings holiday spirit to VA hospital