Fort Carson soldiers take part in Operation Happy Holidays

Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers set out for a different type of mission Friday morning.

They marched with food, clothing and toy donations for the fifth annual Operation Happy Holidays.

The soldiers carried the donated items to the Marian House Soup Kitchen in downtown Colorado Springs.

“All the soldiers are happy to give back in any way that they can,” Lt. Corey McCrury said. “We all have a little bit of Christmas spirit inside of us.”

The donated items were placed outside of the soup kitchen for anyone who needed them.

“If it wasn’t for this, we probably wouldn’t have much of a Christmas,”Kellie Gregory said as she looked for clothes and toys for her 1-year-old daughter.

Gregory is about to move into a new apartment, leaving her with little spending money before the holidays.

“All my extra money is going to getting us a place, getting us dishes and things that we need, so there wasn’t a lot of extra for gifts and Christmas.”

Gregory said she’s thankful for what the soldiers do at home and overseas.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s amazing what these soldiers do.”