Jason Canha, a 36-year-old special agent with the Air Force, was serving at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan last summer when he received four large boxes from the Vineyard. In that hot and windy place, Mr. Canha said, T-shirts are at a premium, and those boxes were loaded with T-shirts and other items from home. “It was almost like Christmas,” Mr. Canha said this week during a brief visit home with his parents in Oak Bluffs.

“Once you get a package from home, everyone gathers around,” Mr. Canha said. So he turned around and started handing out the shirts, in all sizes, to the members of the 2405 detachment. “We gave them to everyone. It was cool. It was from home. It just showed people at home are watching and caring.”

It’s a reminder why in the coming week, while a nation and a community take steps to remember the sacrifice of soldiers on Veterans Day, a team of locals will be making sure that the Island’s servicemen, some in harm’s way, are getting packages, letters, e-mails and cards throughout the year.

Brenda Canha said she usually talks to her son on Sundays by satellite phone. “I send him candy and things like that. But in one conversation he said to me that what he and his colleagues really need are T-shirts, since their clothes don’t last.”

Mrs. Canha called the Dukes County veterans agent Jo Ann Murphy and made the request.

Mrs. Murphy said the call was one of hundreds she handles from family members interested in the well-being of servicemen. She took the matter seriously and set to work on her local sources. She got two dozen T-shirts from the Tisbury Police Department and six dozen from the Tisbury firemen. Rick Mello, who runs Martha’s Vineyard Screenprinting Co., donated a pile. The Black Dog donated a dozen camouflage T-shirts with the image of the black dog on the back.

Mr. Canha said he was surprised when he received the shipment. “I know I had asked my parents,” he said. “T-shirts are like gold. Our uniforms get worn out, so T-shirts are gold over there.”

On Veterans Day next Wednesday, Mr. Canha will be with his wife and two children in Florida attending an observance there. “I’ll be giving thanks to the guys who went ahead of me. They paved the way for me. Working in the military, you learn you can’t do your work without the help of others. I have seen conflicts. I know what they have gone through,” Mr. Canha said. “I get a lot of support from family, from my wife, my kids for doing the job.”

The program to provide Island servicemen with gifts from home is a year-round project, inspired by veterans, parents, grandparents, family and friends.

It is about letting them know the Vineyard remembers, said Ms. Murphy.

Last summer, Marine Corporal Jac Van Bourgondien of Oak Bluffs, stationed in Afghanistan, was spotted in a television news segment by a local relative. Ms. Murphy said she took the call, from his grandparent. “She was upset seeing her grandson on television working under horrendous conditions. They apparently didn’t have a lot of supplies,” Ms. Murphy said. Fortunately, Ms. Murphy had the young man’s mailing address.

With the help of donations, Ms. Murphy was able to purchase food and more items and send them along.

There could be as many as 16 servicemen in the Persian Gulf and another 11 who are serving here in this country. There are boxes going out all the time, Mrs. Murphy said, and she is getting help.

As many as 20 boxes were shipped from the Vineyard to servicemen in October.

Ms. Murphy said there are people in the community who have launched their own campaigns to fundraise and fill the boxes. Estelle T. Burnham of Edgartown has been a guiding light in seeing to it that servicemen are getting the Vineyard message. “She writes letters. She just started e-mailing and she gets so excited when she gets a reply,” Ms. Murphy said.

For 10 years, Mrs. Burnham was wheelchair-bound. After significant spinal surgery last year, this year she is able to get out of the wheelchair. She has worked hard on making sure the servicemen get the things they need.

“I do it because it keeps me busy,” she said. “I can’t thank the soldiers enough for protecting our freedom. I tell it to them in my letters,” she said. Mrs. Burnham has taken on a campaign to raise money, and when she can she helps to package the boxes for shipping.

There are others. Robert Pacheco, of Reliable Market, has helped with providing the food. Last summer, Ms. Murphy’s office was able to ship toothpaste and toothbrushes to servicemen overseas, through the generosity of others.

It began first with a Vineyard Haven resident donating cases of toothpaste to the cause through the help of a relative. With a little additional effort by Ms. Murphy, Tammy Deese, a county receptionist, turned around and obtained more than a hundred toothbrushes that were left over from the county health fair last spring. The toothbrushes were paired up with the toothpaste. Through the year, the servicemen have received toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Another source has donated hundreds of pens.

So far this year, Ms. Murphy has received $920 in donations to help with the cost of postage, packaging and purchasing of items. In 2008 she received $1,136. Contributions have come from a number of organizations and include the Edgartown Mothers Club and Farm Neck Foundation, Dukes County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association and others.

Ms. Murphy said donations to the effort should be made out to Dukes County Veterans Services, and mailed to P.O. Box 465, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. For those wishing to send packages on their own, Ms. Murphy advises that all packages should have the serviceman’s name and address. “You can’t just send anything through the mail,” she said. The deadline for holiday shipping to the Persian Gulf through first-class mail is Dec. 4. Parcel post deadline is Nov. 13.

The following is a list of Vineyard servicemen known to veterans agent Jo Ann Murphy, who said that because of daily changes, it may not be fully up to date.

Serving in Afghanistan:

Cpt. Travis Gramowski

LCPL Jac Van Bourgondien

Major Sean Smith

Anthony Sullo (no address)

SA Jason Canha (just back from Afghanistan)

Serving in Iraq:

FA Ryan Rossi

Lt JG Mason Berry

Cpt. Anthony Angelone

PFC Denis Vogel

Spc. Jason Cray

Sgt. Jared Wardel

Seth Jones

Kevin Devine

A1C Shane Medeiros

PFC Michael Williams

GySgt Howard Ditson

Now serving state side:

Lt. James Hagerty

SSG Michael Blake

EOCN Craig Sylvia

Jared Meader

Ensign Elise Chapdelaine

SFC Daniel Blake

Sgt. Chris Willis (location not known)

BM1 Jordan Baptiste

SSG Richard Monaco

LCPL Owen Mercer

Chaplain David Berube (serving at Dover AFB, Del.)

Discharged from active duty

Capt. Ron MacLaren

SSGT Randy Dull

Travis Bissey

Sgt. Daniel Dunlap

Cpl Christoher Clark

Robert Dickson

Corporal Duncan MacMullen

Capt. Michael Halt

Peter Forend

Daryl Stevens

Tom Rancich

Jake Merrill

Michael Berninger

Chris Russell

Ralph Requena