Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a tree – and today, one local garden center is once again making sure our troops' holiday is complete.

For the 22nd consecutive year, DHL is partnering with Dees' Nursery in Oceanside and other nonprofits to collect, load and ship hundreds of trees overseas.

The trees, ornaments, lights, menorahs and other donated items, as well as letters, will then be loaded onto an aircraft at the DHL gateway facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport to ensure they get to the U.S. troops deployed in the Middle East in time for the holidays.

DHL Operation Holiday Cheer began in 2004 when the mother of a U.S. soldier based in Iraq asked Dees' Nursery if she could send him a Christmas tree.

The nursery agreed to donate the tree but needed help with shipping, so they turned to DHL Express, where the now more than two-decade partnership began.

Their efforts have transported more than 14,000 trees and other holiday care packages to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait.