DAPHNE, Ala. — Daphne Elementary kindergartners hope that care packages they’re sending to Iraq will help some soldiers have a better holiday season.

The students participate in a service project each holiday season, kindergarten teacher Viki McGinty said.

Several teachers approached McGinty with the care package idea because her son Patrick was deployed to Iraq in October, McGinty said.

“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” she said.

“It’s an excellent way for the children to be involved in helping the morale of the soldiers who are fighting for our freedoms,” DES Principal Jan Palmer said.

Army Spc. McGinty — a Daphne High School class of 2002 graduate — will remain in Iraq until January of 2009, she said. His communications unit supports the 2nd Infantry Division in Baghdad. He joined the Army in April of 2004.

McGinty — the teacher — said she hopes the care packages — to be delivered to her son and distributed to others — will teach students a lesson about the holiday season.

“It’s also about teaching the children that Christmas isn’t just about receiving, it’s about giving,” McGinty said.

And thanks to careful planning, students will be giving items that suit the soldiers’ needs.

McGinty said she contacted a Montgomery woman — one who sends care packages to a relative in Iraq — for a list of items to include in DES’s offerings.

The care packages include items that soldiers use on a daily basis such as mouthwash, tuna, hard candy, eye drops, trail mix and playing cards.

McGinty sent three boxes last week and hopes to send about 20 more packages within the coming days, she said.

A care package will take 10 to 14 days to reach the soldiers, she said.

Students began collecting items the week of Nov. 5. The project was to end on Nov. 16. “But as long as the students keep bringing items in, we’ll keep sending the packages,” McGinty said.

“As long as the soldiers are overseas, I hope that we can continue it (the care packages) not only at Christmas, but other times too,” Palmer said.