Soldiers in Iraq to benefit from the efforts of the Skiatook High School marching band

The Skiatook High School marching band has adopted several area soldiers in Iraq. <br/><br/>6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says a lot of people around the country are doing their part to help

Monday, November 21st 2005, 10:38 am

By: News On 6

The Skiatook High School marching band has adopted several area soldiers in Iraq.

6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says a lot of people around the country are doing their part to help the troops in Iraq and that includes Skiatook students, who are making the holidays more comfortable for troops in their own way.

While the Skiatook High School marching band practices Christmas songs, other band members are wrapping gifts.

Megan Chevalier's uncle is a chaplain in the Navy. He's serving in Iraq, watching over more than 500 soldiers. When the Megan heard about the conditions in Iraq for American soldiers, she and other students decided to help. â€œMy uncle sent us a letter and he was talking about how they only get little papers in their MRE's and they only get a bottle of water at each meal, so they collect their paper out of the MRE's to go to the bathroom."

Megan started asking for donations at football games and the fans responded. Money trickled in and soon after, pillows, gloves and even hand lotion poured in. The soldiers are asking for simple things, like deodorant and hair gel. Things that we take for granted but are pretty hard to find when you're in Iraq. "We take our stuff for granted, but over there, they don't have what we have and they're fighting for us and we're really not."

The students are holding a Christmas concert next month. Whatever money they raise from the event, they'll use to buy more supplies to stuff into boxes. Megan wants to send the Christmas spirit to her uncle and the soldiers overseas, one box at a time. "I love him and I hope he's safe."

The concert is free, but they are asking for donations. The concert date is December 15th at 7 PM in the Skiatook High School Auditorium. And if you want to donate any toiletries to their adopted troops, you can drop it off at the front desk at Skiatook High School.