'Blink-you'll-miss-it' site curbs See's for Soldiers' efforts

See's for Soldiers needs your help.Supported by the Kiwanis Club, See's for Soldiers sends donated boxes and tins of See's Candy to deployed troops during the holidays. This year, the beneficiaries are troops deployed through the National Guard. However, with a combination of a bad economy and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it location, candy donations for the holiday fundraiser are down 30 percent from last year. Moreover, in the past three years, See's for Soldiers raised $17,000 in cash donations. This year, it has only received $600, according to Tod Santos, co-chair of the candy sale.Located in the Kmart shopping center off of Highway 49, just South of Bell Road, the Kiwanis Christmas See's Candy Store sits between Check Into Cash and the closed Off the Record Tapes and Video store, though if you're not looking carefully, it's easy to miss. As a temporary store—the Kiwanis Club rents the space through Dec. 29 specifically to sell See's Candy—the store doesn't have a permanent sign, nor can the club afford to pay someone to hang a sign at the same level the other stores have theirs."It's a great location, it's a beautiful store and it suits our needs perfectly," said event co-chair Jo Ann Wojcik. "But the one drawback is the signage. It's a new shopping center and people don't know where everything is yet. So now we're known as the store without a sign."See's for Soldiers seeks cash donations and donations of candy boxes or tins; most people usually buy a second box, in addition to their personal purchase, and place it in a donation bin inside the store. Soldiers especially appreciate the chocolate tins, since they can reuse the tin as a sand-proof container for personal items, according to Wojcik."We're supporting our young men who are over there fighting for freedom," said Wojcik. "What better way to show that than love through chocolate?"The Journal's Ashley Baer can be reached at ashleyb@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment.