Leanna Kavanagh and her husband Gary Kavanagh, will not be spending Christmas at their Oakland Township home. Instead they are planning a Christmas tailgate party for 250 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas.
"I have been literally dreaming about this," said Leanna Kavanagh. "I feel like Santa."
Leanna Kavanagh got the idea to plan her Christmas Tailgate soon after her 22-year-old son, Ryan Williams, told her he had to work and could not be home for the holidays.
"He called me and told me he was not going to be home for Christmas," said Leanna Kavanagh. "I said, 'I'll just go down and rent an apartment, and cook for you and your buddies.'"
"He called me a couple weeks later and said, 'Hey mom, there are two new guys, they're 18, they've never been away from home for Christmas, can I invite them too?' And I said of course," Kavanagh said.
That phone call got Kavanagh thinking about the other soldiers who couldn't go home.
"What about the rest of them, what are they going to do? And how do I say no? I'll take you but not you? So, I expanded it."
Leanna Kavanagh is calling it Christmas Tailgate. Instead of buying each other gifts, she and her husband are traveling nearly 1,400 miles to Fort Hood, Texas to cook for and give stockings and gifts to 250 soldiers.
"This is what we're doing," said Leanna Kavanagh. "This is our Christmas."
Kavanagh got approval for the party from the Family Readiness Group on the Army base.
The meal will include turkey and ham cooked on grills outside the barracks, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, yams, rolls and green bean casserole by request according to Leanna Kavanagh.
"We're packing up 250 stockings, gathering up as many gifts as possible," said Leanna Kavanagh.
The Christmas Tailgate is not the work of one woman. She has recruited neighbors, family, friends, Girl Scouts, students and businesses in Oakland Township.
"People that I work with, everyone who does a service for me, my dentist, my doctor, my chiropractor, my hair salon, my financial planner, all have collection bins at their places of business," Leanna Kavanagh said. "My whole community is helping me. It's amazing what's happening."
"They're collecting socks, and underwear and shaving cream, deodorant, all the things that I'm putting in the stockings for them and the gifts whatever it is you think a 19 1/2-year-old man would like to have for Christmas," said Leanna Kavanagh.
The Girl Scouts have decorated all the stockings; they also made place mats. Fifth- graders from a nearby school made cards for the soldiers. Church groups have also helped fill the stockings and provided gifts.
"I knew it was going to be big, but how big it's gotten is really quite amazing," said Josie Grant from Oxford.
Grant is friends with Ryan and will travel to Fort Hood to help on Christmas Day.
The donations have started piling up in the Kavanagh's home, however, it's not overwhelming to her.
"It's kind of taken over my house," she said. "But I don't see this stuff at all. I see the joy of Christmas morning."
Family, friends, neighbors, and Girl Scouts have also stopped by the Kavanagh family home to help wrap gifts and stuff stockings.
"I think it's absolutely incredible for the soldiers that can't go home," said Vivian Cochran, one of the leaders of the Family Readiness Group at Fort Hood. "During the holidays it can be pretty sad if you're not around your loved ones."
Cochran said volunteers will be ready to help Leanna Kavanagh and her family once they arrive at the base. They are already loaning her oven space to cook all the food.
Cochran said the soldiers and their families are grateful for what's being planned but she thinks some might be unaware of exactly what is headed their way.
"When they see the amount of food and gifts, and pictures and love, and pictures and stories of the people who provided these gifts to them, I think they'll realize that even though they might not be surrounded by their loved ones they're surrounded by people who love them but never met them," said Cochran.
"I'm so lucky that I can do this," said Leanna Kavanagh. "I'm lucky that I have time, that I have resources, that I have friends, family and community that support me, and my son and our military. It's the best Christmas I could imagine. It's going to be amazing."
Help is still needed for the Kavanaghs to pull off her big plans for the holiday. The biggest need is a way to transport everything from Oakland Township to Fort Hood. Leanna Kavanagh said her original plans have fallen through.
She is also still looking for gifts, both fun and function.
Kavanagh said the No. 1 request from the soldiers was NERF items including NERF basketballs, footballs and NERF guns. Functional gifts can include items they can use for their dorms including silverware, plates and toaster ovens.
The following are drop-off locations:
Salon 429 429 Walnut, Rochester MI
Financial Benefits Group - 1801 Opdyke, Auburn Hills, MI
Michigan Securities, Inc - 21415 Civic Center Dr, Ste 200, Southfield, MI
Goodison Cider Mill - 4295 Orion Road, Rochester, MI
Mark Epps Financial - 36360 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Dentists On Main - 600 Main St, Rochester, MI
Delta Kelly
Parker Veterinary Clinic - 5 Mechanic Street, Oxford, MI 48371
St. Luke's United Methodist Church of Rochester - 3980 Walton, Rochester Hills, MI
Dr Cramer, Precise Chiropractic - 4101 John R, Troy, MI
If you are interested in helping the Kavanaghs with their Christmas Tailgate, you can email them: ChristmasTailgate@gmail.com
You can also check out their Facebook page by clicking here.