There’s soap, paperback books, candy and board games.

But the treasure in the gift boxes being sent this week to U.S. troops stationed in the Persian Gulf may be the letters and handmade greeting cards from Lawrence Catholic School students.

“We’re just thanking them for helping us,” seventh-grader Alyson Lunte said. “We’re wishing them luck.”

Kathryn Lunte, 10, writes down a list of items she is boxing to send troops in the Persian Gulf region. Students from Lawrence's St. John School spent part of their spring break Tuesday at the school packing collected items to be shipped overseas to troops.

For the past two weeks, students on the St. John campus, with help from their parents, have been collecting supplies to be shipped to soldiers poised for war with Iraq.

“We decided as a school we wanted to do something to show our support for the troops,” said Patty Hill, third-grade teacher at the school at 12th and Kentucky streets.

Supplies for the project poured in, Hill said. One student even distributed cards informing neighbors about the collection process.

“The students and their parents did a really good job,” Hill said.

On Tuesday, a Girl Scout troop from the school loaded about 30 cardboard boxes with items for shipping.

“We’re putting in all the stuff they’ll probably need, basically for entertainment,” said Kendyll Severa, a fourth-grader.

For some, the impending war already has a personal feel, said Hannah Windholz, a seventh-grader. “Some of our friends have brothers and dads who are going to war,” she said.

Windholz and Lunte are former St. John students.

Some of the boxes will go to five former St. John students who are now in the military, Hill said.

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