The Great Bend Dollar Tree Store is the number one store in the state of Kansas involved in Operation Homefront. Customers of the Great Bend Store have contributed over 950 Back-to-School items for Veteran and Military families throughout the Central Kansas Region. Hundreds of children to five Kansas National Guard units and three United States Army Reserve units in Central Kansas received their choice of fantastic back to school items to help them prepare for this school year. Manager Caroline Adams, and store employees Kate Smith and Brenda Kilgore were instrumental in encouraging and collecting these new school items and helping distribute them throughout the soldiers in the respective units. Another hero in this program is Jennifer Villarreal, a family resource volunteer helping to coordinate the distribution of so many items to the children of hundreds of service member’s households in time for them to go to school. Last fall more than a thousand items were collected for the Christmas season.