Christmas is a time for family, giving and reflection — but for military personnel overseas, it’s another day of fighting for our freedom and spending precious time away from loved ones.

For the past six years, Dees’ Nursery in Oceanside, with the help of air cargo shipping company DHL, and many local citizens and businesses in the community, has sent Christmas trees, decorations, ornaments, menorahs and Christmas cards to troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. At this year’s Trees for Troops sendoff on Monday, Dees’ shipped off 500 trees and other holiday gifts.

The nursery’s owner, Joseph DiDominica, said it means a lot to his family that they support the troops, and this is one way they can show their appreciation. “It’s so important to support the military because they risk their lives so we can live ours,” DiDominica said.

His brother, Steven, agreed that this was the least they could do to show their support. “This little bit is minuscule in comparison to their sacrifice,” Steven said.

According to DHL spokesman Robert Mintz, the trees and holiday items were flown out of John F. Kennedy International Airport to Germany on Monday night, and then shipped to Bahrain — a small island country in the Persian Gulf — and then on to Iraq and Afghanistan. John Bellamy, the pilot who delivered the holiday gifts, said this is something he loves to do every year. “It’s fantastic,” Bellamy said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

An idea takes root

The groundwork for what has become an annual tradition — and a huge logistical challenge — began in 2004, when Tom DiDominica Sr., then the owner of Dees’, found it difficult to help one of his customers send a Christmas tree to her son in Iraq. A few weeks later, DiDominica was sharing the story with another of his regulars, James Adelis Sr. of East Rockaway, whose son, James Jr., had been deployed to Iraq earlier that year. Adelis told DiDominica that if he could supply the trees, Adelis, the owner of Adelis Securities at JFK, would supply the overseas transport. Adelis made some phone calls the next day to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, DHL and local businesses to get the ball rolling.

Trees for Troops 2009