The Carbon County prothonotary’s office has two outreach initiatives to bring some holiday cheer to veterans and military personnel.

On Thursday, Prothonotary Kayla Semmel announced that her office is holding the second annual “Giving Back to Those Who Selflessly Gave For Us” program to help local veterans in the county.

“Our mission for this is to collect essential items for our local homeless vets or just some of our local vets that might need a little extra assistance this coming year,” Semmel said.

Her office is collecting hats, scarves, gloves, toiletries, toothbrushes, socks, small packs of tissues, undershirts, hard candy, canned goods (pull tops if possible), handwarmers, activity books, bottled water, instant coffee, tea, blankets (new), individual snacks (chips, peanuts, crackers, etc.), reusable bags and $5 gift cards.

Items can be dropped off at the prothonotary’s office Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. until Dec. 15. They will then be packaged and given to the Carbon County Veterans Affairs office for distribution.

If you cannot get to her office, but would like to donate, Semmel said residents should call the office at 570-325-2481 and someone can pick up the donation.

In addition, Semmel said her office is also holding the third annual Holiday Cards for Our Troops as a way to spread cheer to the military personnel deployed around the world.

Semmel said that all people have to do is sign a card, addressing it “Dear Warrior,” write a personal note and sign your first name as well as the town and state where you live. If you have been in the military, you may also include your business card.

You can then drop cards in unsealed envelopes at her office and the county will take care of sending them to deployed personnel.

The deadline to submit a card is Dec. 1.

If you cannot make it to the prothonotary’s office, you can mail it in a larger envelope to P.O. Box 130, Carbon County Prothonotary’s Office, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229.