From left, volunteers Cynthia Boland, Trudy Duhon and Janet DeWitt pack up boxes for soldiers. Their organization, HOME, shipped more than 900 boxes in 2009. Photo by Kim Christensen.A REPORT FROM KIM MORGAN:

Hand-crocheted caps, ChapStick, even old magazines are among the items that feel like home to soldiers serving overseas.

So it’s rather fitting that HOME is sending those soldiers as much as possible.

HOME, Help our Military Endure, sends care packages to soldiers serving in far off countries.

Board chairman Rick Dewitt said boxes are shipped year round.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but the soldiers over there have to purchase a lot of their own personal hygiene items,” said DeWitt, a League City resident. “So we’ll send that kind of stuff. We also get requests for things like baby powder, blankets, drink mixes that can be added to water, candy, Girl Scout cookies…they’ll even take old magazines and newspapers. Anything that connects them to home.”

On Valentine’s Day, goodies are sent to U.S. soldiers recovering from injuries in Germany. The rest of the year, packages go to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2009, HOME shopped 873 boxes. The goal for 2010 is 1,000.

Trudy Duhon, a Clear Lake resident who is a shuttle load manager at United Space Alliance, said they never send a box without at least one thank-you letter.

“You don’t know who the box is going to, and sometimes it gets into the hands of a soldier who has no support system from home,” Duhon said. “That one letter just might change their whole day for the better.”

Last year, Duhon collected 1,000 letters from Clear Creek ISD students for Christmas packages.

“Many people ask me ‘What should I write?’ Write as if you were writing to a friend,” Duhon said. “They want to hear about your day, good or bad. I often start a letter like this: ‘Dear soldier, grab a cup of coffee and let me tell you about my day.’ Many times I include Happy Birthday cards, and I write ‘Let’s pretend it’s your birthday today.’ But even a simple ‘Thank you for your service to our country’ goes a long way.”

Duhon always includes her return address, but writers don’t have to if they don’t want to.

“I understand most people do not like to do this, but so many times I hear back from a soldier simply because I was the only one who had an address to write back to,” she said. “I have many pen pals because of this. You can truly forge lifelong friendships.”

Duhon said HOME began in 2003 when Phil Restivo from United Space Alliance had a son in the Marines. At the time, Duhon said, it was called Help Our Marines Endure. But once Restivo’s son came home, it was changed to Help our Military Endure to include all branches.

Army Major Benjamin Garrett, 38, received a box in October 2007.

“It was such a great surprise,” said Garrett via email from his post at the American Embassy in Iraq. “Our entire 10-man team enjoyed something from the box.”

Originally from Georgia, Garrett found out it was an aunt who supplied his name and address to HOME.

The boxes kept coming.

“Our master sergeant responsible for picking up the boxes would always laugh and make fun of me because he had never seen someone receive so many packages on a deployment before he met me,” Garrett said. “Our team really enjoyed the boxes. I always opened the box and shared it with my team and the Iraqi interpreters.”

The soldiers often share candy with Iraqi children, Duhon said.

While HOME gladly accepts donations of items, the best way to help is cold hard cash. The organization will host its first fundraising golf tournament May 14 at Country Place Golf Course in Pearland, and needs sponsors.

For more information, call 832-385-7748 or visit www.helpourmilitaryendure.com.