Kansas City, Mo. ? A cookie borne out of Australian war rations at the beginning of the 20th century is being used to raise money for U.S. troops at the beginning of the 21st.

Unibic NA, the United States subsidiary of specialty baker Unibic Australia, plans to introduce a line of Anzac cookies in supermarkets across the country this Memorial Day.

“Anzac” stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The crisp, oatmeal cookies are a national icon in those countries, where spouses and loved ones, using ingredients adapted to shortages during World War I, made the cookies for soldiers on the front lines.

A portion of cookie sales in the United States will go to Veterans of Foreign Wars, a Kansas City-based veteran support organization with 9,000 posts across the country. The organization helps soldiers’ families pay bills, assists injured and ailing veterans with health care, and provides housing for families to visit servicemen and women in military hospitals.

Michael Quinn, managing director of Unibic Australia, said his company had been selling the cookies in Australia and New Zealand since 1999 and had raised more than $580,000 for veterans there. The company recently began selling the cookies in the United Kingdom and, after its U.S. launch, plans to move into Canada next.

“It was done with a view of taking the cookie and bringing it back to its origins as veteran support,” Quinn said, adding that the company hopes to raise $125,000 for the VFW in the first year.

John Senk, VFW adjutant general, said he was impressed when the company first approached the VFW a year ago, especially as they plan to give the organization 4 percent of sales, not just profits.

Doug Kelly, president and CEO of Livermore, Calif.-based Unibic NA, said he was still meeting with grocery store chains and other retailers and should have the cookies in 5,000 locations by the July Fourth holiday.

The company also plans big marketing pushes around Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day and next year’s Presidents Day.

In addition, the company will be providing the cookies at reduced prices to VFW posts that want to sell the cookies themselves.

“I’ve been really pleased by the response,” said Kelly, the son of a World War II vet.

“I think the mood of the country, no matter if you’re a Red state or a Blue state, is we should be doing more for veterans.”