More support needed to bring troops home for holidays

November 30, 2007 01:34 am

— BancFirst, along with Gov. Brad Henry and state military and veteran affairs leaders, are supporting the statewide initiative “Operation Holiday Homecoming,” which aims to bring home National Guard troops for the holidays.
Donations will allow members of the 45th Infantry Brigade, training at Fort Bliss, Texas, to be transported home for the holidays, all expenses paid, before the troops’ deployment to Iraq in January.
BancFirst is the official depositor of the project, and donations can be made at any BancFirst location to the “Operation Holiday Homecoming” account.
To ensure transportation for the estimated 2,600 troops, “Operation Holiday Homecoming” needs to raise approximately $600,000.
Deposits, as of Tuesday, totaled $165,000, and 15 of 60 buses needed have been donated, some by the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek nations. The Cherokee Nation has made a financial donation. Love’s Country Stores has donated all the gasoline for the buses.
Donations are accepted at any BancFirst location around the state and in Muskogee at BancFirst’s three locations. Mail-in donations may be sent to the American Legion of Oklahoma, Operation Holiday Homecoming, P.O. Box 53037, Oklahoma City OK, 73152.