REACH OUT TO OLD AND NEW FRIENDS BY NIKKI HOFFMAN

July 30 is the International Day of Friendship, a holiday celebrated annually around the world. It was created in the hopes that fostering friendship among different cultures will inspire peace and understanding. It’s a great day to renew close personal relationships or simply have a good time with friends.Nurturing friendships and reaching out to others is what makes living in Harbor Hills unique. Together, neighbors work hard to create charitable events that benefit the community. Food drives and clothing sales bring the women of Harbor Hills together to donate significant funds to local charities. Golf and tennis tournaments are played to benefit compassionate causes. The community of Harbor Hills blends fun, friendship and caring.With fall fast approaching, it’s not too early for the women of Harbor Hills to garner support for the Harbor Hills Treat the Troops cookie drive. Treat the Troops is a nonprofit organization with the mission of reassuring deployed American military personnel that we think of them with pride and concern. We bake, package and ship baked goods to our troops free of charge.Last year’s 2021 drive resulted in 84 boxes containing a total of 8,064 homemade cookies to deployed soldiers in Kosovo, Poland, South Korea, a ship in the Middle East and a military hospital in Abu Dhabi. Our challenging goal for 2022 is 100 packages shipped to our deployed troops.We welcome support from Harbor Hills, The Villages and neighboring communities. The extensive team effort takes months in planning to meet a November ship date. This column will provide more information from co-chairs Roseann Cochran and Shirle Mabie in the coming weeks. Our soldiers deserve our gratitude and much more.