Center School third graders are saluting the troops this holiday season by sending handmade cards and much-needed donations to those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We have to show the troops that we appreciate what they do,” said Austin Scully.

His class began mailing letters to soldiers as first grade students, and it's become a tradition that encourages the kids to look at needs beyond their community, said Austin's mom, Jen Scully.

“It's just a way to give back on a bigger scale,” she said.

Scully has helped organize the campaign since the beginning, and was aided by fellow parent Tina Volkema along with the third grade teachers.

This year, teachers were also able to incorporate the curriculum into the letter writing, explained Diane LeRoy.

Using the school's Chromebooks and the Google Classroom application, kids worked on their word processing skills. They learned the parts of a letter and used the app to write them. They also learned how to import images into the document.

Kids' letters included personal facts about themselves and their hometown.

“I told them my favorite color is pink and I like sports,” said Will Sanders.

The students finished off their cards by decorating the outsides.

They, as well as Center School teachers, also donated food, gifts and personal care items that will go into care packages for the troops.

“It's nice because I know that the troops need stuff. If they don't get stuff they won't survive,” said Will.

Over the weekend, Scully delivered a carload of gifts and letters to Cape Cod Care for Our Troops, a nonprofit that will package and send the donations to soldiers overseas.