Insomnia was what made Ron Wardezak and his wife, Susan, of Mt. Lebanon, start Operation Pittsburgh Pride.

The couple had many sleepless nights worrying about their son, Pvt. Jordan Fox, who is stationed in Iraq.

Once they started their nonprofit organization to send gift boxes to soldiers overseas, they found that their feeling of accomplishment was better than any over-the-counter sleeping aid, Mr. Wardezac said.

They and other volunteers are assembling and mailing packages full of goodies and personal items to men and women overseas. They mailed 147 such boxes for Veterans Day and 410 for the Christmas holidays this year.

The latter included 30 dozen Christmas cookies made during a Steelers game by Ron's mom, Jean Wardezac.

"There were two mixers running during the whole game," Susan Wardezac said. The holiday packages were sent Dec. 11.

Mr. Wardezac works as an insurance agent for Allstate. He e-mailed other agents about his project "and before we knew it, we had packages coming from all across the country."

The number of local contributions increased "as the good will of the people of Pittsburgh took off," he said.

They have communicated with Pvt. Fox's commander, who put them in touch with five other commanders who supplied soldiers' names. The commanders were sent Santa's caps to put on their helmets.

The next mailing is scheduled for Feb. 1 and is intended to reach the soldiers around Valentine's Day.

Those interested in helping can deposit money for the project at the Carnegie branch of Citizen's Bank. The money is used to defray the cost of the mailings.

The couple is looking for more space to store all the donated items they have been receiving. Now the Wardezaks are looking for a church or a company willing to donate storage space.

They are pleased to receive e-mails from soldiers expressing gratitude.

Army Sgt. Amanda Doria, of Syracuse, N.Y., wrote to say thanks for a pen.

"Can you believe it? Being grateful for a pen," Susan Wardezak said.

Sgt. Doria said she had 40 college credits and wants to be a teacher.

Mr. and Mrs. Wardezac hope to send out 5,000 packages next year.

"The Pittsburgh community is responding and we thank them for boosting morale," Mr. Wardezac said.

For more information about the program, call 412 736-8183.