When Army Veteran Joshua Klecka of Minooka applied for a “12 Days of Christmas Giving” wish, he was hoping for some assistance in paying for his family’s Christmas gifts.

He did not expect Operation St. Nick to pay off his entire credit card balance.

“I couldn’t believe it. It feels like a huge burden was lifted off our family. I didn’t know how I was going to pay it off and stay a float with all the medical bills,” Klecka said.

Klecka has three step-daughters with his wife, Amanda. Their youngest, Evie, who is 8, is in remission from leukemia. She has been healthy for two years, but in January is due for a Post Clinic appointment where doctors will test her bone density, mental abilities and other measures that may have been affected by treatment.

The deductible for this appointment will be $5,000. That bill on top of the credit card balance from previous medical bills would be too much for the recent veteran.

Klecka was discharged in June after four years with the army and has been unable to find a job. He served 11 months is Iraq.

The couple wanted to make sure their children still had a good Christmas, so they charged about $1,600 on top of the previous balance. They just wanted some help paying off the $1,600. Operation St. Nick paid the whole thing.

“It was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise,” Klecka said. “We found out they were paying the entire balance on my wife’s birthday, so it was even more special.”

“They’re amazing people,” he said of those with Operation St. Nick.

Operation St. Nick and the Morris Daily Herald teamed up this holiday season to do the “12 Days of Christmas Giving — dreams come true for local military families” program.

To be eligible to have a wish of up to $1,500 granted, the family had to be a military family and residents of Grundy County. A family member must be currently serving in the military or been discharged in 2010 or 2011, and have children.

The idea came from the Operation St. Nick Board, said President Joe Schmitz. Last year, the organization had $12,000 to $15,000 extra in its budget after its back-to-school, bicycle, White Sox trip and Christmas programs. One of the board members suggested doing something for military families and the idea grew from there.

“I’ve been doing this 30 years, and had great inspirational moments, but as a whole this has been incredible. It’s the most worthwhile thing I’ve done in my life, I really believe that,” Schmitz said.

“My Christmas was given to me right here,” he continued.

The goal was to give 12 families a Christmas wish of up to $1,500. Operation St. Nick only received 10 eligible applicants, so they were able to spend a little more than the $1,500 here and there, like with the Kleckas.

“We didn’t have the quantity this year, but we sure had the quality,” Schmitz said.

They’ve helped with Christmas presents, house payments, food, plane tickets, and even a rental car for a veteran to travel home for the holiday.

“Of the interviews that I did in person, there was not one I didn’t walk out with tears running down my cheek, which is a good thing,’” Schmitz said.

Robert Strandell of Morris was another recipient. But Operation St. Nick had to seek him out. Schmitz contacted the serviceman after seeing an article about him in a local newspaper.

Strandell is in the active army reserves. He joined the Army in 1973 and had retired once, but was brought back out by the military in 2006.

“I couldn’t turn the country down, so I’m still here today for at least three more years,” he said.

Strandell has been deployed three times since 2006. While home, he works in road construction and was recently injured. He is collecting worker’s compensation right now while trying to find a job, along with his reserves check, but it’s not quite enough to pay for his home and bills.

When Schmitz called and asked if Operation St. Nick could help with anything, Strandell responded saying there had to be someone in more need than him. It took about an hour, but Schmitz convinced him to accept a little help.

“They paid my mortgage for this month so that will help me survive the month of December,” Strandell said. “I can finish off the year without missing a house payment and still be able to keep up with my bills.”

Schmitz pushed a little more to see if there was anything else they could do to help. Strandell said he would like to buy his step-daughter a bracelet for Christmas. Strandell wanted to go to Walmart to pick her out one. Schmitz took him to Harrington’s Fine Jewelry in Morris.

“(Schmitz and Harrington’s picked) a real good one. I was just going for a (regular) bracelet. They picked out a real nice one. I hope she appreciates it,” Strandell said.

Another Minooka family got to give their daughter a very special Christmas... as well as a present for themselves. Troy, Denise and Holly Clayton will get to eat Christmas dinner on a new dining set.

Troy Clayton is a 1st Lieutenant in the Army and is on leave with his family until Jan. 1. Normally it’s just Denise and Holly from day to day.

The family has what they need in life, but never spends carelessly. In fact, Holly instinctively heads to the back of the store for the clearance sections when they do shop.

“With him in Afghanistan, I sent him a pillowcase and he said, I don’t have a pillow. So you feel guilty splurging on stuff,” Denise said.

Just knowing there are people out there thinking of military families has the Claytons bursting with appreciation.

“They made the conscious choice to help military families and that’s just incredible,” Troy said.