Donations help bring soldiers home for holidays

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wants to turn hope into reality for approximately 430 Kansas National Guard soldiers trying to get home for the Christmas holiday before deploying to Iraq.

"We are asking Kansans to help ensure these soldiers spend their Christmas holiday with loved ones by donating funds for their travel expenses home from training in Texas," said Gov. Sebelius.

The soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, deployed after Thanksgiving to Fort Bliss, Texas to train for a spring deployment to Iraq. But some of the soldiers are worried they won't have the money to make it home for Christmas, and Department of Defense regulations won't allow the Kansas National Guard to pay for their travel expenses home.

Donations to pay for travel expenses to bring the Kansas soldiers home should be sent to the Kansas National Guard Foundation, 2800 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66611 by Friday so an assessment can be made on what else needs to be done to get these soldiers home. Donations to this foundation are tax deductible.

"Our soldiers and their families sacrifice so much, and we want to make sure we do everything we can for them to have one more opportunity for a holiday with family before deploying," Sebelius said.

The soldiers are deploying with members of the Oklahoma National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade. Oklahoma is also seeking funds for their soldiers to come home for Christmas.

Any additional funds beyond what is needed for this unit's travel home will be offered to help Oklahoma to help soldiers deploying with the Kansas Guard get home for the holiday.

Remaining funds would stay in the Kansas National Guard Foundation to help other Guard members, their families and communities in dealing with various aspects of military deployments. These include camps for children of Guard members, community meetings and trainings for family members trying to deal with issues arising from soldier deployments as well as transitioning through the return home.

The foundation also supports programs that educate the public about the roles and accomplishments of the Guard and their families and the benefits of the Guard in communities.