Jack Daniel's helping soldiers go home for holidays

A scene from the JD website video.

LYNCHBURG, TN -- The Jack Daniel's company is donating more than $100,000 to pay for plane tickets and travel funds to enable soldiers posted at Fort Campbell, KY, to go home during the December holiday season.

The distiller also is asking the public to contribute to the project that would free up soldiers who otherwise could not afford to make such a trip. Fort Campbell is located on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Donations can be made to the Operation Ride Home online.

The neediest soldiers eligible for plane ticket vouchers will receive up to $300 for each family member and debit cards up to $100 for each family member for gas and lodging.

Jack Daniel's is starting the fund with a donation of $101,000 in honor of the Fort- Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division, recently returned from deployment to Afghanistan.

Jennifer Powell, senior brand manager for Jack Daniel's, said the company hopes its donation will build awareness of the needs of these soldiers.

"The military does an excellent job of getting folks to the base, but sometimes the soldiers just don't have the means to get from the base to their homes," she said.

Powell said they have already identified 20 families at Fort Campbell who have a legitimate need for the travel funds. They are asking people to donate by Dec. 16.

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