There are still thousands of American troops who are stationed not only far from home, but thousands of miles away from the United States. They are on the frontlines, protecting our rights and freedoms in a world that seems increasingly scary.

An effort now getting underway will enable folks from northwest Iowa to send those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines a few comforts of home in the form of care packages that will arrive as the holiday season gears up. And people will be able to be a part of this effort without lugging anything to the post office.

The troop care package initiative is being conducted by Edward Jones financial advisers in northwest Iowa. In Fort Dodge, those advisers are Ryan Kent and Gabe Petitt. There are other Edward Jones advisers throughout the region.

The advisers are collecting items like snacks and toiletries to be packed into boxes to be mailed to the troops. In Fort Dodge, those items are being accepted at the offices of Petitt, 517 Central Ave., and Kent, 1411 First Ave. S. Donations are also being accepted at Shiny Top Brewing, 520 Central Ave.

Kent and Petitt are also taking the names of service members to send care packages to.

If you want to donate items, get them to one of the dropoff locations by Nov. 14.

After Nov. 14, the items will be taken to Forest City, where Edward Jones financial advisers and their families will gather to pack the boxes and mail them.

This outstanding effort was started in 2012 by a financial adviser in Forest City. Since that year, more than 1,500 packages have been sent to deserving troops protecting our country.

We thank Petitt and Kent for being part of this noble project. We also extend our thanks to the crew at Shiny Top Brewing for agreeing to collect items for the care packages.

We encourage everybody to contribute even just a handful of items for these packages. The troops who will be opening these boxes will be grateful.