COLUMBIA, S.C. — The adopt-a-soldier program at Fort Jackson allows cadets to have a celebratory Christmas Day without having to spend it alone.
The Fort Jackson chaplain reaches out to local churches to find volunteers to invite at least 2 soldiers back to their home for Christmas Day.
Sometimes, soldiers aren't able to make the trip home over the Christmas break due to how far away their family is or not being able to afford a ticket back home.
"Thanks to the military, I’ll get to do that with another family and enjoy my meals and feel the Christmas spirit," Xavier Williams, a soldier at Fort Jackson said.
"It means a lot to me, not only because I get to spend time with people I’m surrounded with every day as of being in basic training, but being far away from home, it’s a different experience for me," Adrian Ruiz a Fort Jackson trainee said.
Ruiz is from Hawaii and couldn’t make it home to his family this year.
The base also has other Christmas activities throughout the break from December 17 - January 4 for soldiers to be involved with. They have a chance to see the Christmas lights at Riverbanks Zoo and Saluda Shoals, go to a USC basketball game and play laser tag to name a few.
"It’s our job at the holder battalion to hold these soldiers, to feed them and also to make sure they are physically, mentally strong during the break, so what we’ve done is associate them with Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) and the local community. We’ve scheduled multiple events both on and off post," Major Michael Flood a Fort Jackson commander said.
Morale Welfare Recreation is a division at Fort Jackson that seeks out all kinds of local activities.
This year, 34 soldiers are paired with a family for a special Christmas Day. The rest of the 45 or so that are on base for break will have a Christmas feast.
The program was cancelled last year due to COVID.
This year, all soldiers are vaccinated and families involved have to follow CDC guidelines.