SYRACUSE - With U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen fighting two wars overseas, Christmas tree growers around the nation are donating thousands of trees to troops in combat zones and their families stateside.

“It's a special time of year. This is a small way to help lessen the pain of separation and say thank you for the sacrifices we are asking them to make,” said Richard Moore, a tree farmer from Groton, N.Y. who is coordinating a statewide collection for the Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York. “Any American would want to help out.”

New York growers plan to donate more than 300 Christmas trees to stateside families of U.S. troops serving overseas. The “Trees for Troops” effort is part of a nationwide campaign by the National Christmas Tree Association's Christmas Spirit Foundation to collect more than 11,000 trees in 27 states, said Lee Ann Friga, a spokeswoman for the Missouri-based foundation.

Last year, the foundation delivered more than 4,300 Christmas trees to soldiers' families at five Army posts, Friga said. The organization sent 175 trees overseas.

This year, the trees will be distributed among 20 military installations representing all four branches of the service, Friga said. Four hundred trees will be sent to units stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Qatar.