“It’s giving back to those that have decided to enlist and protect our rights and freedoms,” said Gabe Pettit, a Fort Dodge financial adviser with Edward Jones.

Pettit and Ryan Kent, the other Edward Jones financial adviser in Fort Dodge, are participating in the effort, which includes financial advisers in their company’s northwest Iowa district.

Kent and Pettit are accepting donations of items to be included in care packages to be sent overseas. Donations can also be dropped off at Shiny Top Brewing.

They are also soliciting names of military service members to send packages to. Anyone who has a friend or relative serving overseas can give their names and addresses to Kent or Pettit.

-Submitted photo
Marva Dillon’s class from St Edmond High School stand next to donations they collected in 2023.

“We will make sure that they get one of our soldier boxes,” Pettit said.

The package project was started in 2012 by Mark Frakes, the Edward Jones financial adviser in Forest City. That first year, 56 boxes were shipped.

Since that first year, more than 2,000 packages have been sent.

The biggest year for the project was 2020, when 256 packages were shipped.

All donated items for the packages must be received by Nov. 27.

-Submitted photo
Gabe Pettit’s truck is shown loaded up with donations in 2023.

The donated material will all be transported to Forest City, where Edward Jones financial advisers from throughout northwest Iowa, along with their families, will pack the boxes.

The financial advisers chip in to pay for shipping the boxes. The Edward Jones firm and its associates cannot accept cash donations to help pay for the shipping or any other part of the project.

Where to donate

Items for the soldier care packages can be taken to:

• Edward Jones — Gabe Pettit, 517 Central Ave.

• Edward Jones — Ryan Kent, 1411 First Ave. S.

• Shiny Top Brewing, 520 Central Ave.

The following items are being collected for the soldier care packages:

Q-Tips

Bars of soap

Toothbrushes

Toothpaste

Dental floss

Toothbrush holders/covers

Mouthwash

Lotion

Oatmeal packets

Dried fruit

Deodorant

Hand sanitizer

Foot powder

Razors

Shaving cream in tubes

Sunscreen

Bug spray

Chapstick

Crackers

Drink mixes

Instant coffee

Tea bags

Flip flops

Baby.body wipes

Hard candy

Peanut butter

Popcorn

Small packages of peanuts

Gum

Individual pouches of tuna or chicken

Shampoo/conditioner

Mrs. Dash variety spices

Sunflower seeds

Beef jerky

Pens

Pencils

Note pads

White socks

Slim Jims

Note cards

Magazines

Old paperback books