A Salvation Army chapter in Iowa is reaching out to the regular Army. Major Keith Petrie, at the charity’s Des Moines office, says they’re assembling some 400 personal care kits that are being donated to members of the Iowa Army National Guard.

Petrie says "They are being deployed, some of them, to Iraq and they’ll take (the kits) with them and they’re also going to distribute them to the Air Guard that are already deployed over there." He says the kits were assembled by volunteers in central Iowa so the troops will have a little piece of home — "something to help make life a little easier for the soldiers who are working to protect innocent lives." Petrie says the zippered red bags hold a variety of items:

They contain shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, two razors, shaving cream, a bar of soap in a soap dish, Kleenex, hair brush, two combs, lotion, a plastic drinking cup, and a pocket-size copy of the New Testament. Petrie says "This is a small token of our appreciation and hopefully it reminds our soldiers that we’re thinking of them, praying for them and wishing them well."