They have an ambitious plan to treat more than 8,000 soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they need the public to join them in the mission.
"Stockings for Soldiers" is an 8-week project with 500 volunteers who make and fill Christmas stockings for our military men and women who can't be home for the holidays.
It was launched 7 years ago by Judy Travis after her son completed his deployment to Iraq.
The stockings are filled with everything from candy, gum and snacks to toiletries, books, and socks.
The stockings are decorated and personalized for each soldier. This year the organization will support 8,700 soldiers.
"Last year, we did 6,600 and we sailed right through, that's why we decided, let's try to do a little more because there are so many more troops," Travis said.
But so far, volunteers have only filled 3,900 stockings and they need help meeting their goal.
The volunteers have just ten days left to complete this project. That means collecting enough items to fill about 5,000 more stockings and getting them to the post office.
The stockings must be shipped by December 3rd to get to the troops by Christmas.
Joe and Mary Kane of Wilmington are optimistic. They've been volunteers with Stockings for Soldiers for two years. Their son, Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Kane, was killed in Baghdad four years ago, one week before he could return home for Thanksgiving.
"I think we're doing something he would like us to do; he was a very giving person. He liked people and he loved his soldiers. We can't bring him back, but we can help somebody else," Mary said.
Here is a link to find out how and what to donate to "Stockings for Soldiers": http://stockingsforsoldiers.org/
