Group of friends bakes almost 4,000 cookies to support troops overseas
Every Saturday after Thanksgiving for the last 12 years, a group of friends has piled into a New Jersey kitchen to bake cookies for troops overseas.
Their mission is to make sure no soldier goes without a Christmas, and this year they baked almost 4,000 cookies to send to the service members celebrating alone across the ocean.
"There might be two or three guys [in a unit] getting boxes from their loved ones … but the other guys are now able to say 'Hey, you know what, I might not have gotten something from my [friends and family], but this person's family is sending for all of us to share together,'" Taylor Dubord told "Good Morning America."
Dubord is part of the group, called Cookies for the Troops, that is now not only an annual tradition but also a nonprofit organization that makes and sends care packages, or a "holiday party in a box," to units in the U.S. military each year.
After her brother Justin Flynn joined the Marines, their mother, Santina Flynn from Hackettstown, New Jersey, started the tradition.
"This was a passion that Sandy had ... The stories that Justin told us of the guys in his unit that didn't get anything come mail call -- it just broke her heart," Steve Flynn, Santina husband's and Justin and Dubord's father, told "GMA."
What started in the Flynns' kitchen with Dubord and a few friends who also had loved ones in the service quickly grew into a team churning out thousands of cookies in one day.
"It has evolved from this small group of friends … to an organization that's a well-oiled machine," Steve Flynn said.
This year, Cookies for the Troops made a record-breaking 3,694 cookies in just one day. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the team of about 20 to 25 bakers got to work, using about 50 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of sugar, 45 pounds of butter and more.
But for Dubord and Steve Flynn, this year the kitchen felt emptier; Santina Flynn died over the summer of breast cancer.
The father and daughter said they had no choice but to continue her legacy, so last month, just as usual, the Cookies for the Troops team gathered and got to baking in her kitchen.
"There wasn't ever any question of 'Do we do this? Mom's gone.' It was something we knew that she was so passionate about that we couldn't not do it. It was very bittersweet," Dubord said.
"It was something that Taylor and Justin and I didn't even hesitate to say this is going to continue," Flynn said.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the bake, Santina Flynn's photo sat under a framed photo of Justin Flynn in his Marine uniform in a silent salute to their leader and friend.
"I know that she looked down on us and was very proud," Dubord said.
Before she died, Santina Flynn made Cookies for the Troops a nonprofit. She had visions of expanding the annual tradition beyond just one day.
Her sights were set on a spring Memorial Day bake, and Dubord and Steve Flynn emphasized that they hope to make her wish a reality in 2020.
"Sandy would have been so proud … knowing that this is spreading," Flynn said.
