This year in honor of Veteran's day, how about spending some time- this weekend, perhaps?- sewing up a couple small items that can shipped to our deployed troops to say "Thank You"? Or reaching out those volunteer operations creating personalized items- and find out how they could use your talents?

Operation Support for Deployed Military began as Operation Pillowcase in August, 2004.:

Sandi Carstensen's son-in-law emailed her from Baghdad and asked her to make him a dark pillowcase. She did and he was the hit of his battalion. She made a few more, then a few more. She mentioned what she was doing to on-line quilting friends and soon pillowcases were being sent from all over the United States and even other countries. As of December 2007, more than 4,000 pillowcases have been sent to troops in Afghanistan or Iraq.

As Sandi found volunteers to sew, and as the project grew she and her online-quilting supporters decided to sew up special gifts for the troops: Christmas stockings. This lead to the second plank of OSDM: Operation Christmas Stockings.

Feel free to use the instructions provided below.

* The pattern is 8-1/2" across the top
* 12" from the top to the bottom of the heel
* 14" from the top to the bottom of the toe
* about 9-3/4" from back of heel to tip of toe
Also needed is a strip of fabric approximately 7-1/2" x 18" folded lengthwise for the cuff, and a piece measuring approximately 7-1/2" x 1-3/4" for the hanger.

Click here (PDF) for instructions for making a stocking.

Even if you or your child is not a sewer, you can support this cause. Last fall, students in southern California took a batch of solid white pillowcases and decorated them with markers to be sent to the local battalion of Seabees.

While not an organization that invited you to craft for them-Operation Hug An Hero offers an important way for children to stay connected to parents deployed overseas.  This operation takes full-sized photographs of a soldier -in uniform- prints them onto fabric, and sews them them up into fabric dolls that a child can hold and carry.  They state:

The vision of Operation Hug-A-Hero is to provide a Hug-A-Hero doll to every child, regardless of need, of a deploying or fallen military service member and those who support our nation’s homeland security efforts in a proactive and timely manner.

This vision will be fulfilled via a coordinated, systematic and self-sustaining process with the Department of Defense (DoD) and related entities, municipalities and first response organizations that informs Operation Hug-A-Hero of family needs such that they can be served by our program.

Do you know of other organizations specifically organized to provide sewn or crafted items to our military or their families?  Please share your resources with us all in the comments.