Parishioners of all ages have joined in efforts to make U.S. troops serving in Iraq a bit more comfortable.

At St. Isidore Church in Bloomingdale, Ill., members of the parish singles group are are making neck coolers for American troops serving in Iraq's hot temperatures that, on some days, have reached 115 degrees in Baghdad.

Polymers, watering crystals that are typically used to keep soil moist for potted plants, are sewn inside canvas scarves. When the soldiers dampen the scarves, the polymers retain the moisture and keep them cool on the battlefield.

In a telephone interview with the Catholic Explorer, newspaper of the Joliet Diocese, the group's Patricia O'Dwyer said it takes about 30 minutes to make one scarf. Volunteers make them in an assembly line fashion with one volunteer cutting the material, another one sewing it and another inserting the crystals.

Since they started the project in November 2004, the volunteers have made more than 50 of the coolers. In August they planned to make an additional 25 or so and send them to soldiers in care packages that will include cake in a jar.

There are about 50 volunteers who are pitching in to make the coolers and put together care packages, which are sent to a chaplain who distributes them among the troops in a 140-member unit.

Of the volunteers, O'Dwyer said, "If I need any help with the soldiers, they're there. It's like a second family."

The Bloomingdale group also collects the goods that go into care packages and participates in several fundraising events --- selling doughnuts, patriotic wristbands and car magnets --- to pay about $200 in postage for shipping 18-20 packages every month.

O'Dwyer said soldiers write expressing their gratitude, but "they never tell us what they want" for themselves. "They want stuff to pass out to kids," she added.

"It's nice to know you have support from home," said Yolanda Perez, mother of Spc. Nelson Perez of the Illinois National Guard and a member of St. Isidore Parish. Her 28-year-old son has been stationed in Iraq since September 2004 and received several care packages from the singles group, including a neck cooler.

For all seasons

Meanwhile across the country, a Vermont volunteer movement has resulted in more than 8,000 neck warmers (for the winter months) and their cooling counterparts being sent overseas.

It's called The Gator Project --- www.thegatorproject.org --- and was started by a Vermont Catholic woman, Mary Skelton, last year after her son's Thanksgiving request for a gator --- a fleece neck warmer. Her eldest son was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Skelton, of St. Albans, decided to make one for her son rather than buy one or send him the pink one she wore. She went to a fabric store, bought three yards of tan fleece and made 16 gators in about two hours, using the hand-me-down sewing machine she got from her mother-in-law.

"I felt like (sewing the gators) gave me a purpose other than worrying," said Skelton, 57, who has been sewing since her mother taught her to when she was about 5 years old.

On the way home from the post office when she mailed the initial batch of gators to her son, Skelton made a silent vow to send a thousand gators to the troops in the six weeks that were left before Christmas. In all, she made nearly 300, but she realized she needed to get more people involved.

Her project began to get publicity, and people who did not sew began to send money for her to buy materials and to cover postage. Requests came in for directions to make the neck warmers and coolers. School children, Scouts, senior citizens and quilters from far and near got involved in the project. She has received donations from as far away as Switzerland and Tunisia as well as from 25 states.

On her Web site can be found the directions for making the neck warmers and coolers as well as the latest tally of the number sent to troops.

Skelton advises those making the coolers to use bleached or unbleached muslin and to use dark tan, dark brown or camouflage fleece for the warmers.

Scores of soldiers have written to express their thanks. "Thanks again for everyone's hard work," wrote one Vermont Army National Guard soldier from West Rutland, Vt. "So far it has come in very handy."

Her son has completed a nine-month tour in Iraq and is now receiving further training in the United States, but Skelton plans to keep making gators and coordinating The Gator Project until "there's no need," she told The Vermont Catholic Tribune, newspaper of the Burlington Diocese.

---CNS

Contributing to this story was Cori Fugere Urban in Williston, Vt.