Every year leading up to Memorial Day, KSBY teams up with local veteran Si Tenenberg to send care packages to our troops.
The tradition of welcoming people up to the KSBY station to pick up a box, of course, cannot happen right now. However, you can still support the troops.
For the last 13 years, the 85-year-old Korean War veteran has been packing boxes of supplies and shipping them to troops overseas.
Since March, the pandemic has nearly halted Tenenberg's operation.
His volunteers, many of whom are 65+, need to stay home, people are not taking boxes to ship them and donations are not coming in from fundraiser events because they have been canceled.
Still, Tenenberg is determined to send supplies to our servicemen and women and says the need for specific items is greater than ever. He's received dozens of messages from soldiers about how the pandemic is impacting them abroad.
"I have in my heart for those guys," Tenenberg said. "When I read the emails, the guys say that because of the coronavirus they can't leave their camp, they're out of food. They're only eating MREs these days, they are not being supplied."
Tenenberg is asking everyone this Memorial Day to consider making a donation to his non-profit, Helping Soldiers in the Desert. Donations will help pay for the supplies and postage to send the boxes overseas.
If you would like to donate, Tenenberg asks for checks to be made out to "Helping Soldiers in the Desert" and mailed to his home at 5738 Salisbury Ln, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.
You can also contact Tenenberg through his website for additional information on how to support the cause.
