JACKSON CENTER — Jackson Center Local Schools students, staff and Jackson Center community members recently joined forces on a project to collect care items, thank you notes/letters and the shipping costs to send 25 boxes through the Operation Gratitude Programto active duty military men and women.

Each grade level was given an item to donate for the care item collection; preschool through third-graders colored pictures and students in grades four through 12 created thank you notes and letters. In addition, many community members and students made monetary donations to cover the shipping of the packages. A total of $480 was collected.

The project was chaired by seventh-grade FCCLA members Brianna Fitzgerald, Madison Halker and Kieran Yarkosky.

This was the final phase of a two-part project that began with a Jeans for Troops day. Teachers in the district made a donation to wear jeans to school. A total of $227 was raised to be sent to help with the GI GO Fund program, which provides assistance to all military veterans, with a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, by helping them find employment, access housing and secure their education and health benefits.