United for the Troops finds new home in Mahopac 

 United for the Troops (UFT), the local charity that sends care packages to American soldiers overseas, has found a new home. At least temporarily. 

After a decade at 34 Gleneida Avenue in Carmel Hamlet (a property owned by Putnam County), the organization found itself having to move. 

"We are grateful to Putnam County for our space on Gleneida Avenue for the past 10 years," said Jim Rathschmidt, co-founder of UFT. "The County Legislature decided to move in another direction and needs to repurpose the old building and may possibly consider demolishing it and creating a green space, a park dedicated to veterans." 

The idea for UFT came in 2007 when Rathschmidt and his late wife Patty’s son, Luke, was deployed overseas in Iraq. They sent him a package of needed items such as socks and toiletries and, of course, some of his favorite snacks. But Luke reported that many of his fellow soldiers had no family at home to send them care packages, and he felt guilty about receiving them. 

United for the Troops became an organization within weeks, collecting anything and everything from any source possible to send to the troops. Over the last 20 years, UFT has shipped more than 40,000 care packages worldwide, all accomplished by a staff of volunteers. 

Rathschmidt stressed that the charity was not getting kicked out of the county location; its lease is up at the end of November, and a new home had to be found by then. He noted that the charity will do the bulk of its holiday shipping—its busiest time of the year—at the old Gleneida location before it pulls up stakes. He said UFT expects to ship around 2,000 boxes during that time. 

The hunt for a new place was challenging. 

"We looked at a lot of places." he said. "Some were too big, some were too small, and most were out of our price range."

But a few weeks ago, the Carmel Town Board stepped up and offered a solution, albeit a temporary one. 

"We  [the Town Board] had been in discussions for a while about this," said Councilman Rob Kearns. "We came up with this idea." 

That idea was to offer UFT a one-year lease with a "nominal" monthly rent for the first floor of the old Mahopac School District offices on Croton Falls Road. 

The town purchased that property from the school district about two years ago and has been pondering what to do with it. At one time, town officials considered moving police headquarters and some town agency offices there. 

"We are still deciding what to do with it," Kearns said. "We have some ideas, but in the meantime, we thought it would be a good solution for United for the Troops." 

Kearns said that the lease contains an opt-out clause for both parties; either can break the agreement at any time. 

Kearns said the town will eventually utilize the building but currently has priorities with other projects, such as Swan Cove and the Route 6 sewer plan. 

But at least for now, Rathschmidt said, United for the Troops has a home and can continue to "bring a little comfort to our troops."