One night three years ago, Athens native Donna Spears and her husband, John, a retired Army soldier, were talking about the soldiers serving overseas and how they wanted to send them something for Christmas.

After a little research, Donna found a volunteer organization that provides aid and comfort to members of the military and their families – Soldiers’ Angels. The worldwide organization has 20 branches, including the Soldiers’ Angels of Alabama, which has more than 100 members.

Together, volunteers worldwide have “adopted” more than 250,000 service members, which involves sending a card or letter each week and one care package a month. Still, there are many more soldiers in need of adoption.

“You would not believe how much a letter means to these people,” said Donna, who has been an angel for three years and who heads the angels in North Alabama. “A lot of soldiers don’t have real strong family support and they want us to help.”

There are two main ways to help soldiers. You can donate any amount of money, stock, old electronics, air miles or care-package items. Or, you can join one of the 30 different programs and teams that do everything from corresponding with soldiers to caring for their pet while they are away.

One MP said receiving a care package in the mail could change a soldier’s day.

“When I get a box (or anyone else gets a box) it’s hard to describe. ...

Once inside, you go through it, every little item once, twice, sometimes three times. ...

You breathe it in and you think of the person who sent it to you. You think of home, family, cars, summer – everything all at once. And for a very short time, you are there away from (here). You are grateful. Then you look around and there’s always a buddy who is down or having a bad day. You share your box – sometimes with the one guy, sometimes with everyone – and it’s electric. Everyone catches that feeling and we start talking about home, about things we miss, things we are going to do when we get back, and the heaviness of the day lifts and it’s not so bad.”

Even words on a piece of paper about everyday life touch the soldiers.

“One soldier just wanted letters,” Donna said. “One soldier didn’t want anything for himself but he had a 3-year-old boy and he was going to miss his birthday and Christmas, and he wanted me to send a truck to his boy.”

Anything you send the soldiers will be appreciated.

“They save everything you send them,” Donna said. “It brightens my day every day when they tell me how much a comic book, a newspaper or a letter I sent meant. I sent one soldier some Halloween decorations and he sent me back a photo of him showing how he had hung up the spider web and pumpkins in his tent.”

The soldiers get the basics from the military but some are in remote locations where getting a pack of gum or some aspirin is difficult.

High on the list for most soldiers are new socks, because the water is so full of minerals in some places that one washing leaves them “crunchy,” Donna said.

Other popular items include sun block, blankets (because winter is setting in), chips and dip, Cheez-It crackers, coffee (soldiers find military coffee awful), sugar or artificial sweeteners, spices, hot sauce, cocoa, raisins, batteries, aspirin or Tylenol, store-bought candy or cakes, homemade cookies, hard candy (to give to Iraqi children), games and cards, news about Alabama football and NASCAR, water guns and inflatable kiddy pools (for fun and cooling).

The Spearses send care packages regularly.

On Thursday, Donna had gone to Dollar General and bought $20 worth of loot including cocoa, Halloween Rice Krispie treats, a wooden puzzle, DVD player with headphones and batteries included, and a skeleton PEZ dispenser (they will be fighting over that).

“I’ll send it to a soldier and he will take what he wants and give the rest to others,” she said. “They really like getting DVD movies, too. They watch them and pass them on to other units.”

There are items you cannot send to soldiers, including your political opinions, Bibles, suggestive letters, photos, pornography or the like.

“You have to keep politics out of it,” Donna said. “Politics have nothing to do with this. It is about helping the soldiers who are serving; they are there and they need your help.”

Mailing a care package costs the Spearses only $10. They don’t pay to ensure its delivery because it is not possible anyway, Donna said.

They save money for the packages and postage by not eating out.

“I get a lot more out of this,” Donna said. “Just to get a letter or an e-mail from a soldier every day is awesome.”

Alabama has 13 active units in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, including units from Athens, Decatur, Huntsville, Florence and Muscle Shoals. To find out how you can help, go to www.soldiersangels.org, www.bamaangels.org or send e-mail to donnasoldiersangels@gmail.com