Mission Back-to-School: Operation Homefront needs your help

Operation Homefront has kicked off its 2009 back-to-school program for military families. They've teamed up with Dollar Tree Stores to help military families get their kids ready to go back to school. The store has begun marshaling civilians to help support the families of the brave men and women in the armed forces who, when they deploy, often leave behind families struggling to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis, never mind coping with the emergencies that happen when least expected.

Dollar Tree is aiming to fill 15,000 backpacks with new school supplies for children of all ages. With 3,600 stores around the country, that goal shouldn't be hard to reach if we all pitch in.

Operation Homefront is a non-profit organization set up to provide emergency assistance and morale to our troops, to the families they leave behind and to the wounded when they return home. They have more than 4,500 volunteers in 30 chapters nationwide and have, to date, provided critical assistance to more than 45,000 military families in need. To volunteer for local distribution events or to find out how to help your military neighbors in need, contact Operation Homefront to find your local chapter.

In the meantime, your mission, should you decide to accept it, couldn't be easier. Simply buy school supply items and drop them off in a "Backpack Brigade" collection box located in the Dollar Tree store near you. Operation Homefront volunteers will then collect and distribute all donated items to military families in your area. The drive ends July 25 so let's all do our bit on the home front so that our enlisted men and women have one less thing to worry about while they're doing their bit on the battlefront.