Thanks to the amazing humanitarian spirit of my cousin, Leta Carruth, I am helping her with a troop support project assisting our soldiers who are serving in an extremely rugged and dangerous part of the world -- the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, near the border of Pakistan. Members of the 6-4 Cavalry are stationed at a forward operating base high in the mountains, where winter has set in and daytime temperatures rarely break the 20s and some areas have four feet of snow. Their living conditions are rustic, to say the least -- mud huts, tents, plywood shelters. They work long hours and are in almost daily fire fights. The military provides the basics, but not much else. They eat MREs and have bottled water to drink.

So, I am assisting my cousin in sending boxes of hot chocolate and apple cider drink mixes (individual packets) to the soldiers. (She has already sent a huge shipment of coffee donated by Starbucks stores in Memphis.) This small gesture tells the soldiers someone from home is thinking about them and cares. It's a small but hugely significant thing. My goal is to send at least 500 boxes of the drink mixes; I'm about half-way there right now.

In addition, the soldiers love to receive letters and cards, so I am working with several schools and churches and having children, youth and adults write letters and drawings. These are sent, along with the drink mixes, to the unit chaplain, who distributes them to the soldiers. The soldiers really, really love and cherish these messages of friendship and encouragement!

If anyone wants more details or is interested in supporting this effort, I'll be glad to visit with you. Just email me at janedennis@comcast.net.

Thanks!