NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Each March, Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and DLA Troop Support prepare for the arrival and shipment of palm leaves for worldwide distribution before Palm Sunday and Easter.
Palm leaves are shelf-life, time-sensitive items in that they have a two-week window for distribution. They come from Florida, travel to a vendor in Michigan, then come into DDSP. From there, they are distributed worldwide in time for overseas troops and families to celebrate Palm Sunday and the Easter holiday.
The palm leaf distribution is part of a special religious support program which DLA Troop Support manages. Palm ashes, wine and seder kits are included in this mission support as well. Palm leaves are the last items to ship.
“This is a high visibility project that carries a lot of importance for the troops,” said Mike Foltz, DLA Distribution operations customer support. “Constant communication with DLA Troop Support usually starts around the December time frame, that’s when customers begin their orders.”
Foltz and his team coordinates with DLA Troop Support with daily communication on items via a spreadsheet. “They’ll send us updates on new orders in the morning, which we’ll update on our end with tracking information and other updates and send back in the afternoon, so it’s a living spreadsheet that keeps going from the project beginning to end,” said Foltz.
For the arrival of the palm leaves, a team from DLA Troop Support will plan a visit to DDSP primarily to see how the project is progressing, check vendor compliance and validate DDSP’s completion of shipments. The whole process once the palms arrive takes roughly a day from when the palms come into the warehouse, and then are shipped out the same day. This year, 202 packages of palm leaves were distributed.
“DLA Distribution is paramount for our success with this program,” said Christopher Gaudio, DLA Troop Support’s supervisory customer account specialist. “This is time sensitive in the fact that it’s needed by a certain date, which is Palm Sunday, and if we ship it to early, it can go moldy or bad, or get bugs inside of it, so timing is of the essence – it’s definitely a true partnership for sure.”
“This is a morale-based program,” said Gaudio. “It allows servicemembers and their families to celebrate their spirituality while giving them a piece of home when they’re away.”