PINELLAS CO., Fla. — This month, we celebrate Military Family Appreciation and Thanksgiving, so one Tampa Bay company thought, why not combine them?
Navy Veteran Matt Klaus knows all too well the challenges military veterans and their families face during Thanksgiving.
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“Some people relocate to a place where their family may not be or they may not have that brotherhood that they had while they were in,” said Klaus. “So you are kind of in a situation where you are starting from scratch, you may be lonely, you may not have any other assistance or help from people in the community."
So, Klaus and his company, TomCo Solutions, teamed up with VFW Post 39 to purchase Thanksgiving turkeys and all the fixings for delivery to 10 military families throughout Tampa Bay.
“So these are veteran families that, for one reason or another, are down on their luck this year, they just need a little extra support in order to have that meaningful holiday,” said Klaus.
Klaus says TomCo Solutions is used to building kitchens, not stocking them, so he was excited to add his own family traditions to the shopping list
“Not everybody thinks you need marshmallows for Thanksgiving but I’m a true believer in hot cocoa and hot cocoa has to have marshmallows,” said Klaus.
Their first delivery was to a fellow Navy Veteran, Eboni Foster, and her two sons, Kayleb and Joshua.
Klaus had to wipe away the tears just thinking about the difference his company made in this family’s life.
“It’s already been a part of the budget since from the top of the month, Thanksgiving is an expensive holiday, food is expensive, so this right here is sincerely Christmas in November, this is freeing up resources for my kids, what they need for school,” said Eboni.
The boys loved the idea of hot cocoa and marshmallows at the Thanksgiving table.
“It just feels great to be honest, it just feels nice,” said Joshua.
“Thank you guys a lot, I’m glad that there are people out there who really care,” said Kayleb.
“It felt amazing, I personally know what it’s like to come from a family that celebrates Thanksgiving meagerly every year and just to see her light up, her kids light up, and feel that appreciation, you can’t put words on that,” said Klaus.
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