Ft. Drum Families Know the Struggles of a Deployment

Ft. Drum Army Base in upstate New York is the home of the 10^th Mountain Division, and it regularly contributes its forces around the world to support our country’s military interests. It’s as true today as it was 20 years ago in the wake of 9/11, when the deployment of America’s finest was frontline news from coast to coast.

These days, people are so inundated with news that the plight of military families facing the long-term loss of a family member due to deployment often gets lost in the haze. But the struggles families face are as real today as they were back then.

That’s the key message that people like Laura Wence want to drive home. Laura is the wife of a commander of the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10^th Mountain Division and works with many of the families in question to get help in preparation for deployment.

“People don’t realize that our soldiers are still deploying all the time,” says Wence. Her own husband recently returned from a nine-month overseas assignment. “The cycle is never ending, but because it is not in the news the public doesn’t think about it. We have many young families experiencing separation, often for the first time, and suddenly you are thrust into the role of dual parent taking over multiple responsibilities. It is stressful and often overwhelming.”

Answering The Need

Ft. Drum is fortunate to have individuals in place to provide support for families, including Dani Reed, Army Volunteer Corps Program Manager, and Ashley Shepard, Soldier Family Readiness Support Assistant for the 2^nd Brigade, 10^th Mountain Division.

This winter, the three of them teamed up with Project EverGreen’s GreenCare and SnowCare for Troops program to provide snow removal service for families of deployed soldiers.

Snow removal is a critical service for locations like Ft. Drum, which sits squarely in the heart of the Lake Ontario snow machine. When the fabled “lake effect” snows arrive, they can deliver massive accumulations measured in feet.

In 2023, to mitigate the impact on families experiencing a deployment during the winter months, Project EverGreen partnered with Ft. Drum to try to match snow removal service with volunteer service providers. The names of families needing the service were collected beginning last August, and by Fall 50 families had been identified for snow removal.

Unfortunately, response to the call for volunteers was initially slow – a campaign involving television interviews and a big social media push did not net any professional snow removal operators, but a group of Ft. Drum soldiers offered up their muscle power to match up with as many families as they could handle.

“We saw a Facebook post in late November asking for volunteers, and it seemed like a cool opportunity to help out,” says Sergeant Benjamin Pryse, who recruited his own small group of  volunteer soldiers to tackle some driveways together. “We reached out to Ki Matsko at Project EverGreen, and she assigned us some families – overall we had 10 assigned to us.” The other volunteers in his group were SPC Joseph Ferraro, SPC Anthony Reynolds, and SPC Abraham Quecan.

“Project EverGreen has created a platform where not only professional landscapers and snow removal contractors can participate but anyone can step up and choose to give the gift of green space or a clear, safe driveway to a military family,” says Matsko. “We welcome everyone to volunteer, and we were pleased that our program made it possible to gather all interested volunteers and match them with families.”

The base had experienced a relatively mild winter until January, when a nightmarish cold snap and snow event was forecast to unleash several feet of accumulation on the area.  As Wence and her team pushed out desperate calls for volunteers on social media, many additional soldiers and Fort Drum family members on base stepped up to offer help. Thanks to the partnership with Project EverGreen, new volunteers were matched up with families as quickly as possible.

“Because of the built-in privacy protection for military families, Ki had to really work hard to make the matches work for the volunteers – it took a lot of teamwork between Ki and us at the base, but we ended up helping many families,” says Wence.

While providing the service was gratifying, Laura admits it was eye-opening to see how many more families really could have used the help that they were unable to provide. She wants everyone to appreciate the burden military families endure during deployments and encourages everyone who can to get involved.

“It is so hard when missing a loved one, especially knowing how scary things are over there,” says Wence. “There is so much worry and anxiety about what’s happening to them. And as I said before, people really don’t know what a struggle it is, in particular for those in the lower ranks who don’t have the resources to hire a professional for these services.

“We are not going overseas with them,” Wence continues, “but we are partners in this – those left behind are also sacrificing, and taking care of work like mowing lawns and clearing snow may not seem that significant, but to the family it is huge.”

Become A Volunteer Today

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The Title Sponsor of the GreenCare for Troops program Title Sponsor is Nufarm. SnowCare for Troops program in BOSS Snowplow. Platinum Partners include Toro, SiteOne Landscape Supply, AMGUARD Environmental Sciences  and Heritage Landscape Supply. The Silver Partner is Arborjet/Ecologel.

Affiliate Partners include the Connecticut Grounds Keepers Association and the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association.

GreenCare for Troops is endorsed by the National Association of Landscape Professionals