Topeka ? Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of Kansans, 430 National Guard soldiers will be home for Christmas.

Flanked by several soldiers and oversized checks, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday that private and corporate donations totaling more than $146,000 had been raised – more than enough to charter buses to Fort Bliss, Texas, where the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery is training for a year before going to Iraq.

“We think that total will grow because people have committed to donations that aren’t quite in hand yet,” Sebelius said. “This is just a great way to say thank you. Thank you to (the soldiers). Thank you to the families.”

Soldiers will leave for Kansas Dec. 23 by bus, returning to Texas on Jan. 2. Some of the soldiers are flying home through other arrangements and residents in Liberal raised money to bring home some 40 soldiers from that community.

“It’s a long way to El Paso,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the guard’s adjutant general. “Wow. Just to know the people that you serve think this much of you.”

Donations came in all sizes, including funds raised by the battalion’s own association. Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc. donated $20,000, while Wal-Mart Stores gave $21,225 to the cause.

Busing home the bulk of the soldiers will cost $50,000, with the remainder being kept by the Kansas National Guard Foundation to assist the families of deployed soldiers.

“We see this as a combat multiplier for the families,” said retired Col. Butch Dowes, an official with the battalion’s foundation.

The Kansas troops are deploying to Iraq with the 45th Infantry Brigade of the Oklahoma National Guard. That state is raising about $600,000 to get its 2,300 Guard members home for the holiday on buses.

The units will be doing security missions in Iraq, including assisting Iraqis with the operations of military prisons.

It has been a busy year for the battalion.

Bunting said the some of the soldiers were back from Iraq for only 60 days when the Pentagon picked them to go back. Units are supposed to have at least one year notice of deployments under current Pentagon guidelines.

This summer, members of the unit were sent to southeast Kansas, where they assisted with security after flooding swamped much of Coffeyville and other communities. Some of the troops also were sent to Greensburg following a May tornado that nearly wiped out the town.

In November, the unit did most of its pre-deployment training in Salina at the National Guard center there, which allowed the troops to be in the state for Thanksgiving. It was one of the first efforts to train guardsmen closer to home and keep them in contact with families before they spend 12 months in Iraq.