FTCC partnered with Wake Forest Baptist Church to give away live Christmas trees to military service members and veterans Dec. 9, 2025. [Photo by Natasha Brown]
Fayetteville Technical Community College offered a little extra holiday cheer to the local military community last week when it gave away live Christmas trees to soldiers and veterans.
The event was coordinated by FTCC’s Military & Veterans Programs and Wake Forest Baptist Church, with assistance from FTCC’s Student Veterans of America chapter and Veterans Bridge Home, a nonprofit with a mission of supporting and advocating for veterans.
Wake Forest Baptist Church donated approximately 50 live Christmas trees and several wreaths for the event, delivering the greenery from its Wake Forest location to FTCC’s Fayetteville campus Dec. 9.
Adam Fitzgerald, the church’s youth minister, said the tree donation grew out of the church’s annual “Trees for the Troops” fundraising effort, which supports youth mission trips.
“We thought what better way to run that fundraiser than to give people in our community the opportunity to buy trees to support our troops,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re just grateful that we could be here and do this. It’s a blessing for us to be able to help in this way.”
Scot McCosh, FTCC’s Senior Director of Military & Veterans Programs, said Fitzgerald reached out looking for a way to distribute this year’s batch of trees to active duty service members in the Fort Bragg area.
“Knowing that several tree giveaways were already happening on Fort Bragg through the Morale, Welfare & Recreation office, I asked if we could partner with our student veteran association and widen the offer of trees to not only the active duty military but also our veteran community,” McCosh said. “One of our key partner organizations, Veterans Bridge Home, helped us to get the word out. The church was elated with the expanded impact and arranged to bring the troops to campus where our student veterans could help in the distribution.”
FTCC partnered with Wake Forest Baptist Church to give away live Christmas trees to military service members and veterans Dec. 9, 2025. [Photo by Natasha Brown]
Veterans Bridge Home also gave away bags of groceries, including frozen turkeys and several traditional holiday fixings, to families.
The delivery of the Christmas trees was delayed by over an hour due to a funeral in the Wake Forest Baptist family, but the soldiers, veterans and military families waiting to receive trees were not deterred, leading to a line of about 25 cars wrapped through FTCC’s pickup location before the start of the giveaway.
With help from FTCC’s student veterans and church volunteers, the trees were quickly and efficiently distributed.
McCosh called the event and the collaboration “an absolute joy” — one that he hopes to continue in the future.
“The smiles on the faces of those receiving the trees were priceless, as was the laughter and joy of our student veterans as they gleefully hoisted trees over their shoulders and carried them to the cars of veterans of multiple generations,” McCosh said. “We look forward to continuing this partnership in the years ahead.”
FTCC partnered with Wake Forest Baptist Church to give away live Christmas trees to military service members and veterans Dec. 9, 2025. [Photo by Natasha Brown]
FTCC partnered with Wake Forest Baptist Church to give away live Christmas trees to military service members and veterans Dec. 9, 2025. [Photo by Natasha Brown]
FTCC partnered with Wake Forest Baptist Church to give away live Christmas trees to military service members and veterans Dec. 9, 2025. [Photo by Natasha Brown]
