Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Deborah Leonard (left) and Kelly Vega of Family Dollar, 1036 Pennsylvania Ave. W., Warren, ring up a purchase of candy bars to be sent to servicemen and -women overseas.

It’s just a little taste of home.

The Blue Star Mothers of Kinzua collects candy bars to send to servicemen and -women overseas.

“We’d like to send them a little bit of sweetness from home,” Chapter President Skyla Govier said.

The number is over 6,000.

Blue Star Mothers sends the bars, but it’s a community effort.

“We just put them in the care packages,” Govier said.

There is a benefit display at Family Dollar, on Pennsylvania Avenue West, in Warren.

“They ask their customers to buy a candy bar to put in our care packages to send to deployed troops,” she said. “We’ve been doing it for two years. We have sent to about 19 different countries.”

Last week, Govier and Lori Phillips of Family Dollar carried out three boxes of candy bars.

While Blue Star Mothers and Family Dollar share some of the credit, the rest is due to the community members who spend their dollars to send a little taste of home to those serving overseas.

“It’s the community buying them,” Govier said. “Our community is so good about supporting our troops.”

While some at home aren’t aware of the program and look skeptically at the sign, thankful service members have stopped in.

“We’ve had people go through the line and tell us ‘thank you so much for sending them. We got them,'” Deborah Leonard said.

A friend of Kelly Vega’s passed along her loved-ones thanks. “He cherishes anything he gets from home,” she said.

Blue Star Mothers doesn’t have an official candy sponsor — they send whatever people buy.

As of Thursday, the candy on display is also a fundraiser for Boys and Girls Clubs of America. “They’re benefiting along with the troops,” Leonard said.

With chocolate going all over the world, it’s bound to end up in hot climates or in hot modes of transportation. “We put them in a baggie,” Govier said. If the candy melts, it’s still made of the same sweet ingredients. It might not look as good, but it will be secure in the baggie and the service member can eat it when it hardens.