Shipping and logistics provider DHL Express has launched its 15th annual Operation Holiday Cheer, a program that delivers Christmas trees, letters and gifts to U.S. military personnel at bases overseas, the company said this week.

The program kicked off at Dees Nursery, Long Island, N.Y., where trees, letters, menorahs, gifts and decorations were loaded into trucks and delivered via motorcade to JFK International Airport. After a stop at the DHL Americas Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, a DHL 777 aircraft traveling nonstop to the Middle East will deliver the holiday cargo directly to servicemen and women at bases in Afghanistan, Bahrain and Kuwait, the company said.

"Our servicemen and women make incredible sacrifices, especially at this time of the year, when they're so far from family," said Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express U.S. "Until they're able to come home for the holidays, DHL will bring some of those feelings of home to them. We're proud to partner with members of the community to deliver DHL Operation Holiday Cheer, as a way to thank those who protect our freedoms every day."