INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY AT HARBOR HILLS BY NIKKI HOFFMAN

July 30 is the International Day of Friendship, a holiday celebrated annually around the world. It was created with the hope that fostering friendships among different cultures will inspire peace and understanding. It’s a great day to nurture close personal relationships or spend quality time with friends.

Fostering friendships and reaching out to others make living in Harbor Hills a unique experience. Food drives and clothing sales raise funds for local charities. Golf and tennis tournaments support compassionate causes.

With fall quickly approaching, it's not too early for the women of Harbor Hills to gather support for the Harbor Hills Treat the Troops cookie drive. Treat the Troops is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring deployed American military personnel know they are in our thoughts. We bake, package, and ship baked goods to our troops free of charge.

Last year’s 2024 drive resulted in 183 boxes containing a total of 17,565 cookies sent to Kuwait, Iraq, Slovakia, Hungary, India, Jordan, Romania, Germany, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt, Lithuania, South Korea, and multiple undisclosed locations.

Chairwoman Rosann Cochran will coordinate the work of hundreds of volunteers who help bake and pack cookies, print labels, write notes, solicit monetary donations, and arrange homes for freezer space and drop-off locations. We welcome support from our friends in The Villages and neighboring communities. The extensive team effort requires months of planning to meet a November ship date. Updates will be provided in the coming weeks. Our soldiers deserve our gratitude and much more.