TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA. -Equipment carrying precious cargo will leave Tobyhanna, destined to cheer up Soldiers and children in distant lands.

Communications Directorate employees intend to collect and place stuffed animals in every SICPS (Standardized Integrated Command Post System) shelter scheduled to depart the depot - hundreds are shipped annually.

It all started one day when an employee placed a teddy bear, dressed to look like one of his coworkers, on a shelter. Operation True Heart took shape as the number of stuffed animals brought in by depot personnel grew. Someone finally suggested sending them with the assets as a goodwill gesture to cheer up military members serving their country.

"We're going to put those [stuffed animals] in the shelters when they ship, with a note thanking the Soldiers for their service and asking them to give the animal to a local child," said Covington Township resident Bob Morgan, electronics mechanic leader in the Satellite Communications Division. "So far we have dozens of stuffed animals collected and hope to get more via a collection box in the work area."

Morgan is the force behind this goodwill effort, according to Old Forge resident Justine Fairclough, production planner, Production Management Directorate.

Fairclough came up with the name Operation True Heart while reflecting on the character of the people she sees every day.

"A true heart is a selfless heart; one that gives of itself and asks for nothing in return," she said. "The reward for Bob and the SICPS team is to know a Soldier will smile and a child will smile because of a simple act of kindness."

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department's largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.

About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.