State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) has begun its second annual SECU Supports the Troops holiday campaign.

The campaign goal is to provide 5,000 holiday gift boxes for North Carolina's National Guard and Reservists deployed throughout the world. The boxes will include items such as snacks and toiletries, as well as special thank-you letters from local schoolchildren.

Credit Union branches will have collection boxes for donations, along with a wish list of acceptable items. In addition to items for the gift boxes, SECU is also accepting monetary donations that will be used to assist with shipping costs associated with delivering items to the soldiers. The gift boxes will be shipped in early December.

In 2010, members, volunteers, staff and local community groups joined together to carry out the first statewide SECU Supports the Troops campaign, collecting enough supplies and monetary donations to ship 5,000 holiday packages to deployed N.C. troops.

The overwhelming success of the 2010 SECU Supports the Troops project and the positive response from soldiers who received the packages prompted the Credit Union to bring back the Supports the Troops campaign for another year.

"SECU serves the N.C. National Guard within its field of membership, and the credit union employs numerous Reservists in its branch and operations network," said Leigh Brady, SECU senior vice president of education services. "The staff and membership of SECU strongly support these courageous men and women who serve our country, and SECU Supports the Troops is a wonderful way to provide a 'gift from home' during those long and difficult deployments."