NICEVILLE, FL - A hand-written letter from home.

Most who have served will tell you there's nothing like it, especially during the holidays.

Soon hundreds of those letters will be in the mail, postmarked Niceville, Fla.

Channel Three's Laura Hussey has more.

Words from the heart.

An adult's flowing script a child's painstakingly crafted letters messages of encouragement and caring.

Annie James Walsh "I told 'em thank you for serving our country, and it's really helping us, and just thank you."

Eleven-year-old Annie James Walsh knows how much a letter from home can mean.

Annie "You're just gone, and you don't get to talk to your family a lot, and it's probably really hard for them."

The Holidays With Heart letter writing campaign at the Niceville Valparaiso Chamber Of Commerce has already collected 700 notes.

Tricia Brunson/Chamber Director "It's a tough economy, and there need to be ways that we can give back without spending money. And obviously being a military town, we think of the troops."

Executive Director Tricia Brunson says their goal is to get a card or letter to every deployed military member from Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base.

By the time they do, the letters will have already changed lives back home.

Kelli Lusk "Thank you for keeping our country and our way of life safe. My son is a Marine, deployed also. Your dedication to our country is overwhelming."

Chamber staffers screen every letter.

But they say it's not a chore; it's a reminder.

Tricia "We're very fortunate. We're very blessed and we have a lot of people who are out there suffering, away from home doing that for us."

Alison Briggs "I feel happy, proud, safe and protected. You guys and gals are like my knights in shining armor."

If you'd like to write a letter for the troops, you can just drop by the Niceville Chamber, they have all the supplies on hand.

Or you can place a letter in their 24-hour drop box.Holidays With Heart: Letter Writing Campaign To Troops Overseas