Over 900 Christmas stockings wait to be delivered to wounded service members in Washington state. The stockings were packed at Mukilteo Presbyterian Church on Dec. 10 by volunteers.

Mukilteo was home to a special kind of holiday cheer this month.

Twenty-five volunteers from "Heartbeat – Serving Wounded Warriors" gathered at Mukilteo Presbyterian Church on Dec. 10 to fill over 900 stockings with donated goodies, gifts and gadgets for wounded service members in Washington state.

"It's important to show we care," said volunteer and Mukilteo resident William Sacherek.

Caring is what Heartbeat does best. Comprised almost entirely of volunteers, the Snohomish based non-profit provides emergency financial assistance, innovative therapeutic services, and morale-building programs like the Christmas stocking program at no cost for wounded service members and their families.

Receiving a Christmas stocking can be an emotional experience for wounded service members struggling with physical and psychological wounds and stationed far from family.

"Some of them start crying. They didn't think they'd have Christmas," said volunteer Donna Padilla of North Bend, who has hand-delivered stockings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Padilla knows firsthand the heartache and challenges faced by the wounded and their families. In 2003, her son suffered three bullet wounds to the chest while on patrol in Iraq with his Marine battalion. He was 18 years old.  

"I never imagined that my own child would get hurt," she said.

Now Padilla reaches out to other wounded service members through Heartbeat's morale building programs.

"When they see that someone cares it means a lot to them," she said. "A small act of kindness goes a long way with these guys."

Padilla also organized a donation drive at the Lynnwood Wal-Mart, bringing in $500 worth of stocking fillers in four hours.

These "guys" also include wounded female soldiers, a particular concern for volunteer Helen Smythe, who last year collected donations specifically for 80 women's Christmas stockings.

"We wanted it to be personal," she said.

She recalls the women happily wearing their matching scarves and gloves. This is reward enough for Smythe.

"I do it for the smiles," she said.

The stockings have proven to be more than just a sock full of Christmas cheer. At one Vet Center – where combat veterans and their family can receive counseling – one particularly uncommunicative veteran burst into tears when presented with a stocking.

"It just broke him," said Heartbeat founder Janice Buckley. "The whole idea of community – that people were thinking of him – made him easier to counsel."

Results like this are why one Vet Center calls these gifts "therapy stockings."

Buckley started the Christmas Stocking program six years ago with just 24 stockings.

She is amazed at their record-breaking 900 stockings this year and is grateful for the support of her volunteers and project lead Jenn Whitney, who organized the packing party.

Caring donors also contributed to the success of this year's program.

"Almost everything in the stockings is donated," Buckley said.

One friend of Smythe's donated 50 Starbucks cards valued at $10 each. The stockings themselves were handmade by Project Linus volunteers in Everett.

It is more than the joy of giving that motivates Heartbeat volunteers.

Sacherek, a Vietnam veteran, says that Heartbeat provides him "the opportunity to let our wounded know that we honor their service, we're thankful, and we care enough to spend time to support those warriors and their families."

Smythe agrees. "These brave men and women have given the ultimate for us," she said. "They were not drafted. They volunteered to keep us safe."

Serving others is a value Smythe is passing on to her grandson, 13-year-old Tanner Martin. They have volunteered together for Heartbeat for four years.

"It's a good thing to help people who are just trying to protect us," Martin said. "It's changed my life. This has helped me think more about other people. It's not all about yourself."

As of 2010, more than 41,000 wounded warriors have received assistance from Heartbeat.

To learn more about Heartbeat or to donate, visit their website: www.heartbeatforwarriors.org or contact Janice Buckley at 425-931-1047.