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The 5th Annual Soldiers Gifts From Home takes place this Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The 104 Pub, located on 104 Sage Commercial Drive. This event serves as a fundraiser to support deployed soldiers during the holidays by providing them with gift boxes and a handwritten Christmas card.

Melody Pasch, the organizer of the event, said her own relationship to members of the military inspired her to create this event.

“I have family members that were military that have passed on. And Jimmy Lewis passed away… Jimmy Lewis was actually a very good friend of mine. And he was one of the few that was still alive, that was on the beaches of Normandy,” Pasch said. “In honor and memory of my family, and Jimmy, and all of those who haven’t made it home, is why I decided to start this.”

The event will host live music by Whiskey Moon and Double Down as well as food trucks, Smokin Moe’s and Saucy Spot. The event is $20 with a few drink token and included patrons must be 21 and over to attend. There will be raffles and t-shirts for sale that support the cause.

Pasch said that the fundraiser has grown rapidly in the last five years with several members of the community donating money and boxes for the cause. The holiday boxes go to different corners of the world to reach deployed soldiers.

“The first year we did 18 boxes. Last year, there was a total of 200 that was delivered and our goal for this year is 400,” Pasch said. “I take the boxes to Fort Benning. And then they ship to wherever … Last year it was Afghanistan. This year, I think some of them are going to Kuwait.”

Denise Begley, owner of the 104 Pub, said she is looking forward to hosting the event and hopes it will be the best one yet.

“This is our first year hosting this event,” Begley said. “Since this is the fifth year, we’re hoping this is going to be the best year yet.”

Pasch said that above all, she wants to honor God with the event and said soldiers are at the forefront of this event.

“I don’t want the praise, the honor the glory, any of that because that goes to God first and foremost, above everything else,” Pasch said. “And there is nothing in this for me except for the satisfaction of seeing the soldiers that are that are deployed that are away from home, to be able to have something to kind of ease a little bit of that pain of being away from their families during the holidays.”