Veteran Turns Discarded Christmas Trees Into Hand-Carved Canes For Veterans

Every year, millions of Christmas trees are used to decorate homes for a few short weeks. While some people are able to compost or burn their discarded trees once the holiday season is over, not everyone has that luxury. As a result, many Christmas trees end up in landfills.

One Navy veteran came up with a brilliant way to make the most out of discarded Christmas trees and give them a lasting life. He uses the old trees to make meaningful gifts for his fellow veterans.

Florida-native Oscar Morris started Free Canes For Veterans back in 2017. Using his skills as a carpenter and woodworker, he transformed discarded Christmas trees into beautifully carved canes. Then, he gives them away for free.

As Morris shared on his Facebook page, the canes are completely free to any veteran in need. They just have to pay for shipping.

What started as a hobby, quickly took off after one of his Facebook posts went viral. He found his canes in high-demand and was able to receive recycled Christmas trees from his local Lowes’s. However, he didn’t initially start with Christmas trees.

Morris first started making free canes for veterans out of cypress. However, due to the increased demand, he was desperate for any kind of material to continue.

“I received a phone call from a manager at Lowe’s and she asked me if I can make canes from Christmas trees. I was running low on any kind of trees whatsoever to make canes out of, so I just lied and I said, yeah, I can make canes out of Christmas trees. And that’s how that came out to be,” he said, according to NBC.

Since beginning his work with Christmas trees, he’s actually grown quite fond of them. The news outlet shared that he actually prefers that wood now! He said, “What that tree gives me back at the end of all that long process turns out to be the most beautiful wood that actually I work with. It’s not a hard process, but it does take a lot of time.”

Thank you, Mr. Morris, for giving back to our veterans.