Volunteers and staff of the 412th Engineer Command’s Family Readiness Group shipped 61 Christmas packages today to soldiers in Afghanistan.

The gifts will be the first for the soldiers who deployed from Vicksburg on Aug. 21 to work on the country’s infrastructure by improving communications networks and building schools, hospitals and water systems.

Each box includes a Theater Engineer Command T-shirt, drink mixes, vitamin C and a Christmas stocking filled with goodies.

“The soldiers over there, they know we’re their extended families. They’re looking forward to the packages because they know they were boxed with love,” said Donna Henson, an advocate for families of deployed soldiers whose husband, Sgt. Paul Henson, 48, and son, Spc. Andrew Henson, 19, deployed with the 412th.

The group is sending packages to remind the soldiers that they are being thought of back home, Family Readiness Group leader Karina Hollands said.

“The Army is one big family. The soldiers are one family, and the families are part of it as well,” said Hollands. “You send things to let them know you’re thinking of them.”

FRG also sends newsletters and phones to families of deployed soldiers to let them know someone cares for them as well, she said.

Henson said the real focus should be on the family because they are the “strong point.”

“They’re our key. Their being mission ready helps our soldiers when they go,” she said.

As part of the Deployable Command Post, the soldiers serve in the conflict in Afghanistan, which began on Oct. 7, 2001, when the United States and the United Kingdom launched an operation in response to the Sept. 11 attacks that year.

The 412th changed from an engineer command to a theater engineer command in March as part of the Army’s new modular force structure.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com