Giving for the holidays — in Iraq

Christmas in Iraq? Joe Villani tried to imagine what it would feel like to more than 100,000 American troops separated from their loved ones at the holidays, and he knew he had to help.

So when Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, where he works, began an in-house campaign to collect gifts for the soldiers this month, Villani kicked into high gear.

The Navy veteran, his wife and their teenage son and daughter reached beyond the office to more than 500 people in the Moorestown Soccer Club. They contacted dozens at their church, and hundreds of students and teachers at seven schools in Moorestown and Mount Laurel.

Now, the family's basement and garage are piling up with goods dropped off at their Moorestown home and at gift-wrapped deposit boxes across the area.

The project is one of scores of efforts by individuals, charitable organizations and companies in the region to make the holiday a little more bearable for the troops. Care packages usually contain paperback books, toiletries, coffee, candy and other snacks, as well as fly and mouse traps.

Other drives have been organized to send gaming systems and even Christmas trees overseas.

"These men and women are fighting for us and missing Christmas with their families. I wanted to do something for them," said Villani, 47, director of a Lockheed Martin program that is upgrading Coast Guard vessels, planes and facilities to support homeland security.

"We frequently get requests from people who want to know if [the Army] can send things to the troops," said Carolee Nesbit, a spokeswoman at Fort Dix. "We ask them to find a way to ship the items before they begin collecting - and to choose sendable gifts, not chocolate that won't survive the heat."

In Pennsylvania, Christmas tree growers are involved in several efforts to help spruce up overseas barracks.

On Dec. 7, 30 to 50 trees, shrubs and decorations will be flown commercially to a Pennsylvania National Guard base near Baghdad, courtesy of Strathmeyer Forests in York County. And Eaton Farms in Berks County donated 22 shrubs and three trees, which the Pennsylvania Mushroom Industry is paying to ship.

In Langhorne, Stefanie Doctor Shea, whose husband, Michael, is on his second Army tour in Iraq, co-founded Fun for Our Troops Inc., to help soldiers enjoy their downtime. The nonprofit group is collecting money, gaming systems, PC games, gift cards and international phone cards to send overseas.

The USO, Red Cross and other organizations have helped many people ship goods overseas, said Nesbit, of Fort Dix.

All mail must be addressed to individual service members, she said. The U.S. Postal Service recommends that items going to the war zone be mailed by Tuesday.

Ira Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania/Delaware chapter of Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that provides for the needs of troops and their families, said his group is shipping packages overseas. The organization has more than 4,000 volunteers in 34 chapters nationwide.

"We've sent over 11,000 food baskets and 3,000 care packages to Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployed areas in the global war on terror," said Shaffer, of Philadelphia's Fishtown section.

In addition to toiletries, food and candy, Shaffer said, Operation Homefront sends computers, computer parts and modems.

"We do it all year around, but we do it more at Christmas with the public's help," he said.

"People are obviously sensitive, and their hearts open over the holidays," he said.

Many grassroots efforts to help the troops are centered on schools, such as St. Philomena Elementary School in Lansdowne, where students, teachers and parishioners have assembled 100 boxes and packages containing hand sanitizer, baby wipes, board games, harmonicas, kazoos, heat-resisting candy, writing paper, envelopes, pens and pencils.

"We also encouraged families to send Christmas cards," said Colleen Chamberlain, a Lansdowne parent of two children at the school.

The collection effort at Lockheed Martin in Moorestown had its beginnings in 2005 when Margaret Gillis, a software quality engineer, sent Christmas packages to her niece, an Army captain then in Afghanistan. The goods were shared with the captain's battalion.

"At Lockheed Martin, we work and build products for the military," said Gillis, of Elkins Park. "The military is held in high regard and my connection to my niece made me realize how much these people give up and how dedicated they are to their country. They need our support."

Last year, Gillis - with the help of about 40 co-workers - shipped items to a friend of her nephew's, a Marine serving in Iraq, and his 50-member platoon.

This Christmas, at the suggestion of a Lockheed Martin systems engineer whose daughter is serving in Iraq, Gillis adopted the Army's Illinois-based 378th Military Intelligence Battalion.

It was Joe Villani and his family who took the "Christmas in Iraq" project to the community.

"I have a passion for supporting the troops," Villani said. "I spent 10 years in the Navy and was in Beirut in 1983 when Marines were killed by the bombing of the barracks there."

Vallani's daughter, Alexandra, 17, solicited fellow church choir members and students at Moorestown High and at other schools in the municipality and neighboring Mount Laurel.

She e-mailed the Moorestown Soccer Club after her mother, Kimberly, asked the club's board of directors to spread the news.

"My dad told me about the service project," said Alexandra, who set up collection boxes at home and at schools. "I know a lot of families who have people in Iraq and I wanted to help them have a nice Christmas."