A branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is already preparing Christmas gifts for Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
At the Legion's Roxboro branch in Quebec, Jean Bisson, whose son David is serving in Afghanistan, has been busy preparing care packages.
"Half his tour is finished. I just want him back home safely," Bisson told CTV Montreal. "We want (the troops) to know we still care about them, we haven't forgotten them."
Their goal is to fill 3,000 show boxes with essentials, such as deodorant and Kleenex.
"The portable size," said Bisson, "that they can put in their pockets."
The packages will also include messages in both French and English "just to thank them," she said. "They're doing a great job. To me, they're our heroes."
For Sari Bruyere, the motivation for preparing the packages is her late father.
"I actually have a picture of my dad that was taken, middle of the night when the mail came in," she said. "He's all sleepy-eyed... but he's holding a parcel and (smiling). It was so obvious that this meant so much to get a parcel from home."
Bob Burgess of the Royal Canadian Legion said they simply want to give the soldiers their support.
"What we are sending is our love," he said, "that we do appreciate our troops and we do not want to ignore them."
The Legion is continuing to accept donations and pack boxes until the end of the month, when the packages will have to be sent out to reach the soldiers in time for Christmas.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Tania Krywiak
