By Brenda Sexton-The Courier-Herald

It was another special delivery to Iraq by way of Cub Scouts from Pack 500 and Boy Scouts from Troop 422.

The two groups, both chartered through the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1949 in Enumclaw, delivered 436 care packages, weighing about 4,000 pounds, to the Enumclaw Post Office May 11. The packages' final destination was the welcome hands of service men and women in a military intelligence unit based in Baghdad.

&#8220You guys are awesome,” Chaplain Brady Lanoue e-mailed to the Scouts. &#8220Two days ago I received at least 200 boxes. The mail room clerks' eyes popped out of their sockets! Yesterday I received the rest and yet again the mail room clerks were shocked by the number. It took two trucks to deliver to my office each day. I've already delivered boxes to two companies and still have an office full of boxes.

&#8220I can not say thank you enough. You guys are awesome. Don't think of this e-mail as a proper thank you. Thanks a thousand times.”

This is the fourth year the Enumclaw Scouts have filled care packages for the troops. The Scouts put in about 800 community service hours collecting books, snacks, playing cards, personal care items and other supplies for soldiers in the war.

&#8220They stood in the cold and rain in front of local supermarkets to solicit donations,” said Edward Hechter, a Pack 500 leader.

He also said they voted to take some of their hard earned fundraising money (almost 10 percent of the pack's total revenues for the year) to pay for additional supplies and shipping costs for the project.

All told, almost $20,000 worth of merchandise, supplies and shipping materials were donated by the local community through the Scouts' collections.

A separate envelope was stuffed with letters from the Scouts and school children to the troops.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@courierherald.com.