It's a tough time to be a solider, even tougher to be a soldier in harm's way, and the coming holidays only seem to emphasize that point.

Santa surely has a special place in his heart for U.S. military personnel, but even he can use a little help getting gifts to soldiers serving in Iraq's sandy deserts and Afghanistan's rocky hills. Fortunately, there seems to be no shortage of "elves" in schools, churches, and community groups from the North Pole all the way to the North Hills willing to lend a hand.

One group, the Marine Corps League 3Rivers Leatherneck Division, Detachment 310, recently directed a collection drive that resulted in a shipment of 57 boxes for military personnel overseas.

Members met at Franklin Park municipal building Nov. 21 to package the goods. The boxes, prominently labeled with red Semper Fi stickers and stuffed with homemade cards, toiletries, lip balm, magazines, snacks, socks, hand-warmers and other items, were shipped Nov. 23, three days before Thanksgiving.

"To get something from home means a lot," said former marine Bill Howrilla, of Franklin Park, who headed the project. "If they can get a treat, or a toothbrush, it's welcome."

Mr. Howrilla's detachment took donations from individuals, businesses, and pupils at North Allegheny School District's Franklin and Ingomar Elementary schools. The youngsters also wrote cards.

Franklin Principal Jeff Anderchak, of Sewickley, said the Franklin Parent-Faculty Association helped coordinate the collection. Because the school honors local veterans on Veterans Day, "The students have a heightened awareness of what troops do. Some students have family members serving," he said. "This is an opportunity for them to bring some joy to the troops overseas."

Items that filled the boxes came from a variety of sources.

Mr. Howrilla said he heard about an Air Force master sergeant who was searching for chocolate for troops. "I can't find one M&M [candy] in the post exchange," she wrote.

Two days after Mr. Howrilla learned of the chocolate drought, a manager of a local Giant Eagle happened to offer Mr. Howrilla two pallets of candy. He packed the 3,000 pounds of sweet treats and sent it to the master staff sergeant. Soldiers in Afghanistan should be enjoying the chocolate by next week.

"I'm sure they'll devour as much as they can," said Mr. Howrilla, "and they'll pass it out to the kids."

When it comes to U.S. forces stationed overseas, generosity seems to be contagious. A spot check of just a few locations showed students, church groups, families and individuals throughout the North Hills eager to help.

For example, seventh- and eighth-graders in North Allegheny's Ingomar Middle School Saver of Souls Club -- SOS -- sewed 56 black and camouflage fleece neck warmers for the troops.

Veteran's Day activities at many local schools prompted holiday collections. When students at Marshall Middle School, also in North Allegheny School District, wrote to a soldier overseas asking about military life, they received a video featuring soldiers in a Pennsylvania National Guard unit. Sergeant Matthew Jones, of Philadelphia, who created the video, wrote, "About half of our (2,500 troops) will be staying here for the holidays ... they would love a taste of home."

In response, the youngsters collected hundreds of small ornaments, holiday music CDs, and holiday movies on DVD.

At Poff Elementary in Hampton Township School District, classmates collected sundries and snacks after a visit from Sgt. Jeffrey Aurednik, father of second-grader Brenna Aurednik. Hampton middle-schoolers collected hats, gloves and sundries for veterans at Shepherd's Heart Veteran's Home, a transitional facility for homeless veterans in Pittsburgh. They also collected hundreds of greeting cards for soldiers overseas to use.

Pine-Richland School District Richland Elementary students, with the help of their Parent Teacher Organization, collected $1,536.41 in a Silver for Soldiers drive to benefit Operation Troop Appreciation. The Pittsburgh-based organization purchases flak jackets, global positioning devices, gun-cleaning kits, Under Armour clothing, and other safety and comfort items for soldiers overseas.

"The teachers used it as a learning project," said parent Lisa DeFoggia, of Pine. "They counted the coins, and found Afghanistan on the map, and wrote letters."

Kristen Holloway, of Mt. Lebanon, Operation Troop Appreciation founder and president, said donations often help entire units. "There are guys on their fourth or fifth deployment. To know that people remember them is huge. There are some who don't receive a single piece of mail or package. So we send stuff units can share, like musical instruments and weight-lifting equipment."

Bill Youngblood, executive director of McCandless Township Sanitary Authority, said he hasn't had to buy baby wipes in "a very long time," so it felt a little strange when he walked into Senator Jane Orie's office with eight cases of the premoistened cloths. Soldiers in sand-whipped countries use the wipes for sponge baths between showers. In conjunction with the senator's office, Mr. Youngblood's office collects a designated item monthly to be mailed overseas. One of his employees, Debbie Diadoti, has a son who is being deployed to Afghanistan.

"When there's someone with a family member in the military, [the collection] takes on a life of its own, and around this time of year it's really heartfelt," Mr. Youngblood said.

Senator Orie's office collects items from anyone in the community who wishes to donate to the troops, and ships them overseas with the help of an Ellwood City-based organization called The Yellow Ribbon Girls.

Patti Phillippi, 50, of Ellwood City and her two sisters started Yellow Ribbon Girls when their brother served in Desert Storm in 2002. Since then, the sisters have had several family members serve overseas. "We understand what families are going through," said Mrs. Phillippi. She said her organization helps groups "as they need it."

"Sometimes we do the mailing, or help with customs forms, which can be intimidating. There are so many great groups, but they're not all sure how to support the troops. We're the middle man," she said.

The FIRE and ICE youth groups at St. Ursula Parish in Hampton took a personal approach to their collection. Youth leaders provided photos and biographies of service people, and each teen chose a soldier to "adopt" in countries such as Turkey, Japan, Italy, Japan Iraq and Afghanistan. In care packages, each teen sent a photo, a letter for the soldier, and a prayer card of St. Michael the Archangel, who is regarded as one of the patron saints of soldiers. The others are St. George and St. Joan of Arc.

Lale Virostek, a St. Ursula volunteer youth ministry coordinator, said the youths viewed and touched items that belong to U.S. soldiers, such as helmets embedded with shrapnel and rugs that Iraqi women had woven and embroidered with the words Operation Iraqi Freedom. "When it's personal to them, that's how the kids learn best," Ms.Virostek said.

Kim Boucek, of Rochester, a Franklin Park police officer, collected 1,800 pounds of items in honor of family members in the military and a colleague, Ohio Township Officer Joe Haney, an Army reservist overseas on a 12-month tour.

"So many of them are so young and it might be their first time out of the country and away for Christmas," Officer Boucek said. Her packages included, among other things, homemade cookies, baby powder, film, cameras and Steelers pennants, all donated by friends, local businesses and the Pittsburgh Steelers organization.

Sunday schools are also involved. Children at Northbridge Community Church in Cranberry are collecting things such as CDs and DVDs, snackfoods and items for personal hygiene during December to send to soldiers through Operation Troop Appreciation. Church member Jena Turner said the collection drive is an extension of a lesson the children are learning called "Compassion: Caring enough to do something about someone else's needs."

The cost of shipping the care packages can run to thousands of dollars, and the groups rely on donations from businesses and individuals. For example, Officer Boucek estimates her shipment will cost more than $1,000. She hesitated to talk about her efforts, insisting, "We should recognize the troops and their families. We're doing it because we have American soldiers who are not home, who are so very far away from us."

To contact: the Yellow Ribbon Girls, visit www.yellowribbongirls.com or call 724-752-3314; Operation Troop Appreciation, visit www.operationtroopappreciation.org. For information on 3Rivers Leatherneck Division Detachment 310, visitwww.3riversmcl.com, or call Joe Wadlow at 412-401-8440. The division will hold a social at 6 p.m., Jan. 25 in Monte Cello's Restaurant, Ross, for civilians and military personnel interested in learning about service projects.

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