Our Team
KRISTEN GAUVIN - PRESIDENT
Kristen became President of Boxes to Boots in July of 2020 when Karen Cote announced her retirement. She began volunteering for Hero Boxes with her son Liam, 4 years ago. “ Karen has built this wonderful organization which keeps growing each year. I feel so honored to be appointed as President to continue her mission of connecting our military heroes with care packages. I hope to make her proud with our future projects. I am also very excited to work with all of our talented and caring volunteers. Together we share such a positive working enviroment. I am so thankful to have my son involved in our mission as he learns how to give thanks to our militiary and particapte within our community. I think the best part of our organization is to watch our amazing community come together and help us collect care package items, raise funds for our shipping costs. It truly takes stregnth in numbers to make our goals possible.” Boxes to Boots has accomplished many amazing things in years past and I am making it mypersonal mission to keep us extradoniary.
KAREN COTE - FOUNDER & FORMER PRESIDENT
Hero Boxes was established by Karen Cote of Berlin, CT. She began sending care packages overseas every Thanksgiving after her son was deployed to Kuwait in 2015. To date, she has sent over 2600 boxes which arrive just in time to be distributed to the soldiers right before Christmas. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Cote says. She sent 125 boxes to her son's unit in her first year of operation. Since 2016, she organized a committee of volunteers, and hosted over 400 community members at the local VFW for "Giving Thanks to our Troops night". Volunteers helped individually wrap toiletries, snacks and make cards. "It's just been amazing... it just makes you feel good, as a military mom," says Cote.
Our committee members proudly volunteer their efforts for the common goal: to hopefully bring smiles to our soldiers who cannot be home with their families for the holidays.
