The local Adopt-a-Soldier project is

looking to clothe injured soldiers as part of its newest campaign,

Operation: Skivvies for Wounded.

Organizer Kim Jones said this is one of

the most important projects of Adopt-a-Soldier to date.

Through the operation, she is

encouraging residents to gather new and unused clothing, including

underwear, T-shirts, socks, pajamas, sweatpants and slippers, to

send to a medical aid station in Afghanistan.

“This project will be ongoing,” she

said. “This one will never stop.”

Jones reports that when soldiers are

injured in battle, their clothes are cut off, burned or soiled and

have to be thrown out. These individuals are often transported to

Germany for further treatment and then sent to hospitals in the

United States, but are frequently transported wrapped in blankets

or hospital gowns.

“They have nothing to wear except what

they’ve arrived in,” she said. “If it wasn’t for friends and

families, that (blanket) would be all they had.”

Jones received confirmation e-mails

from others that this was in fact the case for wounded

soldiers.

“It really touched my heart,” she said.

“It confirmed that this is the best effort we’ve endeavored to

do.”

Jones, who started Adopt-a-Soldier

during her son’s deployment and has continued supporting soldiers

since, received a request from an aid station for clothing in all

sizes, but particularly in large and medium, to help give the

wounded their own clothes to wear. Jones notes that soldiers are

always in need of a variety of items, including toiletries such as

tooth brushes and tooth paste.

“People can do what they can. It

doesn’t have to just be clothing,” she said. “It can just be a

letter of encouragement or a bag of hard candy.”

For those who are looking for ideas of

what else to send, Jones points to the website

mtsupportingsoldiers.com for a list of both winter and summer

suggestions. For more information and to get the shipping address

for the medical aid station, contact Jones at

[email protected].