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Aug 09, 2023

Tucson women collect hundreds of Hawaiian shirts for deployed troops

US troops in Afghanistan. NBC NEWS TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - To show their appreciation, a local group of women have been collecting hundreds of Hawaiian shirts to send to deployed troops across the

US troops in Afghanistan. NBC NEWS

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - To show their appreciation, a local group of women have been collecting hundreds of Hawaiian shirts to send to deployed troops across the globe.

If you have ever known someone who's served in the military, you know how much they love their care packages. But how about a Hawaiian shirt?

It was back in 2018 when Barbara Brownlie came across a posting from an Army mom on the east coast asking people to send in Hawaiian shirts.

The reason: to ship the shirts to her son and his friends who were deployed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

"I believe I saw it on Facebook, I don't know how those things on Facebook pop up that your supposed to do," Brownlie said. "I just inquired, and the rest is history."

The call out went viral, that instead of shipping shirts just to those at Fort Campbell, they opened it up to soldiers deployed far and wide.

Five years later, Brownlie continues her passion here in the old pueblo.

But now she's on a new mission.

"We are now in the process of doing operation 300, where we will collect 300 Hawaiian shirts for the troops," Brownlie said.

Brownlie says with every shirt sent and received, a token of happiness is also delivered - a feeling she says is indescribable.

"When you get that type of feedback that just fuels our fire because the impact is way bigger than we'll ever understand," Brownlie said.

If you're interested in helping in the efforts, Brownlie asks that you call or text her at (520) 235-9234.

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