It’s become fairly common during the war in Iraq for Americans to insist that they support our troops even if they don’t support the U.S. action in the Middle East.

Well, here is a perfect opportunity to prove that support and spread some holiday cheer in the process.

About 430 soldiers in the Kansas National Guard are in Fort Bliss, Texas, training for a late winter deployment to Iraq. They are scheduled to have more than a week off for Christmas and New Year’s, which would give them time to get home and see loved ones who they may not otherwise see before they are deployed. The only hitch is that the U.S. Department of Defense won’t allow the Kansas National Guard to pay the soldiers’ travel expenses and some may not be able to afford the trip home on their own.

To remedy this problem, the governor has asked Kansans to make donations through the Kansas National Guard Foundation (2800 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66611) to help fund holiday travel for soldiers who need that help. Donations to the foundation are tax deductible.

It would cost about $50,000 to get all of the troops home for Christmas. If more than that is raised, the funding will go to help fund travel for Oklahoma soldiers who will deploy with the Kansas Guard.

There’s no time to waste. Organizers have asked that donations be sent by Friday so that state officials can assess what else needs to be done to get these soldiers home for Christmas and New Year’s.

Around the holidays, there are many wonderful opportunities for people to reach out and help those less fortunate. The local calendar has been loaded in the last several weeks with events and projects to support local service organizations and make some area residents’ holiday a little brighter.

We can’t think of anything that would give donors a warmer feeling than knowing they had helped a U.S. soldier preparing for service in Iraq get home to spend Christmas and New Year’s with his or her family in Kansas – or even Oklahoma.

What better way to say, “Thank you for your service.”