By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Niles native Steve Harman, an Army sergeant stationed in Afghanistan, will soon be getting a reminder that his hometown has not forgotten about him or what he is doing for our country.
Brandywine Elementary sixth grade teacher Douglas Albert and his students have been busy working on a class project to reach out to Harman.
The class sent letters to Harman two weeks ago and will include another letter with the care packages they were putting together on Wednesday afternoon.
The class spent their own time and money to go shopping for things that will be useful to the troops while they are away from home.
The students brought in everything from homemade jelly and toilet paper to aspirin and shampoo. The 10 boxes of supplies were to be sent to Afghanistan and distributed among Harmon's infantry division.
Sixth grader Natosha Libertowsk thinks it is important to send him things that might not be available in Afghanistan.
Some of the students were just proud to be helping our country in any that they could.
Harman, 27, who graduated from Brandywine High School in 1995, joined the Army in 2000 and was deployed to Afghanistan in March for 12 to 18 months.
Local family members are very proud of what he is doing and were thrilled to hear of the class' interest in helping out.
His sister Michelle Craig and her husband Jeff also expressed their gratitude to the class and are looking forward to Harman's safe return.
When Harman was sent to Afghanistan this March, he was forced to leave his wife, Jamie and his year old son, Cody, behind at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Jamie was also pleasantly surprised to hear of the project being done by Albert's class.
His father Larry Harman displayed his support in a prepared statement: "Through dedication and hard work, Steve has always been able to excel at any endeavor he has chosen. We are very proud of him and his decision to be a part of the military."