Claudia Moore

The Chattanooga-based Army Reserve 591st Transportation Detachment is nearing the home stretch of its yearlong deployment in Iraq, but its members still need all the encouragement they can get.

And so do all of the other troops now completing tours in the Middle East, said Virginia Hendricks, service to the armed forces specialist for the Greater Chattanooga Area American Red Cross.

Ms. Hendricks is asking community members to come to the Comcast Community Stage at Hamilton Place today to give their service members the recognition they deserve.

“We have purchased 100 prepaid shipping boxes, and our goal is to collect enough items to fill these boxes and ship them to our troops serving overseas,” she said.

The local Red Cross used grant money from the national organization to purchase the boxes and ambitiously decided to order 25 more than volunteers filled during a similar event last year, according to spokeswoman Claudia Moore.

Items ranging from personal hygiene products to snack foods and computer thumb drives are welcome, she said.

“Anything that gives them those little comforts from home,” he said.

Pat Canerdy, unit administrator for the 591st, said entertainment items such as magazines, old DVDs and video games are most welcome. She also suggested air fresheners, because troops often complain about bad odors in their encampments.

Letters are important, too, Mrs. Canerdy said.

“Even though people e-mail constantly, there’s something about getting a real letter that you can hold in your hand and reread a dozen times,” she said.

The 591st deployed to Iraq for the second time last July and is scheduled to return to the United States sometime in June.