With their donation deadline near, Operation Homefront of Hawaii and Lex Brodie's are short of Hawai'i-themed goodies to send to troops overseas for the holidays.

Vickie Cariello, with Operation Homefront of Hawaii, said the group hopes to send about 1,000 packages. She estimated that the organization has collected enough goodies for about 500 troops.

Tomorrow is the deadline to give.

People and businesses statewide have been generous, Cariello said. One company gave 1,300 music CDs and a man gave 100 CDs that he produced for his family. Coffee of Hawaii sent six cases of coffee and Coffee Roasters of Molokai and the Big Island also sent coffee.

But more donations are wanted.

Items being sought include local coffee, macadamia nuts, hard candies (not chocolate), Hawai'i-made cookies and other treats. Small mementoes or touches of Hawai'i are needed such as Hawaiian music CDs, books, dashboard hula girls and more.

Cariello said the organization, which is part of a national nonprofit group that helps military families left behind, also needs money to pay for shipping.

Boxes will be packed Sunday at Holy Family Catholic Academy by volunteers and members of the school family. The boxes will be shipped Tuesday.

Everything collected will be sent and, given past experience of some troops who have received care packages, the holiday spirit will spread to beyond the Hawai'i troops, Cariello said. Typically, the one who receives the box takes what is most treasured, like macadamia nuts, and puts out the rest for others.

"So everybody shares," she said. "They're already doing so much for us and on top of that they're so giving to each other."

Lex Brodie's is collecting donations at its stores in Honolulu, Kane'ohe, Waipahu, Kalihi and Pearlridge.

Donations include Spam from the firefighters down the street and rubber slippers from a local business, said Scott Williams, general manager at Lex Brodie's.

The company is playing a small part in the effort but jumped at the chance to help because of its other involvement in the community, including the Lex Brodie's Above and Beyond Award to members of the military, firefighters and police officers, Williams said.

"You realize that they sacrifice so much with their family life and things they put on hold, especially with the guys from the Reserves, is just amazing," he said. "It's just to show the support and aloha from Hawai'i and that we're not taking for granted what they are doing for us."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.