Satiating soldiers' sweet tooth

Everybody loves cookies, but 3,700? Talk about a sugar high.

Members of Light of Christ Lutheran Church in Algonquin have spent the week baking to make life a little sweeter for U.S. soldiers stationed around the world.

The boxes of homemade bar cookies, which include personalized notes and pictures from Sunday school students, will journey to Afghanistan, Alaska, Hawaii, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kuwait and South Korea.

Algonquin resident Pat Fiorese, a member of Carillons of Light, the church's bell choir, had the brainchild for the idea after sending cookies to a nephew stationed in Iraq.

"At practice one night, Pat was telling us how much her nephew and members of his unit had enjoyed getting the care packages. They wrote her these heartfelt thank you notes, and seemed so appreciative. She wanted to get a group together to bake on a larger scale," said Jane McMullen, Light of Christ bell choir director.

Church members volunteered to bake their favorite cookie recipes at home, and gathered Monday night to pack them up.

This weekend, Pastor Kendall Koenig will bless the boxes before they are shipped off next Tuesday.

Shipping costs have been fronted by the Carillons of Light, the church's youth group, and Lake in the Hills American Legion Post 1231.

"It's been a fun project," Mullen said.