A non-profit out of Junction City wants to make the holidays brighter for deployed soldiers. But Operation Holidays is struggling to complete its mission to send care packages to troops this Christmas.

Think of Kathryn Alvarez as a sort of Santa Claus for deployed troops. The woman out of Junction City spends each year putting together care packages for soldiers deployed during the holidays.

"Last Christmas we sent packages to 1,000 soldiers, this Christmas we're over 4,400," says Alvarez.

Packages go out with entertainment, treats, and hygiene products and good tidings. It’s Operation Holidays, but the non-profit needs $44,000 by Friday to get the packages where they're supposed to go.

"We’ve got the items that were donated, but we don't have the funds to ship them,"

Without the money to send these packages, Operation Holidays says it'll have to put the packages in storage, instead of sending them to troops for Christmas. Each day mail brings more goodies for the care packages, but the support comes from everywhere she says, except the local community.

"We don't have the support we need as far as volunteers or monetary donations and sometimes I think, “Why am I doing this?” But every time I go to the mailbox I say, “That's why I’m doing this,” a soldiers note or an email or a letter or card saying thank you, you don't know how much it's helped me or how much it's meant to me," says Alvarez.

So she continues her operation - calling it her mission.

"My job is and my mission is to get these guys through it. So my one woman battle is to help get the support, the items and volunteers I need to complete my mission to get these guys through their mission," says Alvarez.

Now she hopes Kansans will help her achieve it.

If you'd like to make a donation to Operation Holidays you can visit our website at www.ksnt.com and click on 27 news links or send a donation to P.O. Box 2160, in Fort Riley, Kansas, 66442.