Two members of the UT community are working to lift the spirits of Marines in Afghanistan.

"Some people don't even realize that the war is still going on," Amanda Oaks, senior in microbiology, said.

The War on Terrorism has had a personal impact on Oaks and Keely Elledge, a UT graduate, because their childhood friend, Travis Ervin, joined the marines.

"During basic training, Ervin met Jon (Book), and they became friends before they were deployed to Iraq," Oaks said.

Elledge went to see them off and was introduced to Book. They kept in contact regularly and a relationship was formed.

After serving in Iraq, Ervin and Book were deployed to Afghanistan, where their conditions were dramatically different.

"They are stationed apart," Oaks said. " ... (They) can only call once in a while, if they're lucky, from an unreliable satellite phone for about 10 to 20 minutes, and they only get three hours sleep at night."

Other conditions they have to face in Afghanistan include living in clay huts powered by generators, eating dehydrated food, being under constant threat of ambushes and living without indoor plumbing.

"They have a shower about once a month with a fellow marine pumping cold well water on top of them and the water is not clean," Oaks said. "It contains a blood parasite that causes them dysentery."

Elledge found out about these conditions first and sent care packages to the soldiers before she told others about their conditions.

After hearing about the soldiers' conditions, Oaks wanted to raise their morale, so she talked with the rest of her sorority, Phi Mu.

"When the war began in 2001, my seventh-grade class started a pen-pal system with the marines in Iraq, and I wanted to start a pen-pal system between the guys in Jon and Travis's companies and my sisters," Oaks said. "But I heard from Jon that supplies were needed more."

The supplies needed were anti-diarrhea medicine, blankets, toiletries, food, energy drinks, water-purifying tablets, baby wipes, reading materials, DVDs, chapstick, razors and soy sauce.

Along with Phi Mu, Oaks and Elledge went out and talked about what they wanted to do for the soldiers to the community though Facebook. They got a great response, and they were sent money and items.

Within two weeks, they had 32 full flat-rate boxes to send to Book and Ervin for their companies to use.

Sixteen boxes were sent to each company, though two boxes were specially saved for Book and Ervin and were filled with photos, letters and special gifts.

Accompany the care packages were Thanksgiving-themed thank-you cards with a big picture of all Phi Mu's members.

"The boys ran to them like it was Christmas," Oaks said.

A collection for the soldiers will still be taken up, and all non-perishable items can be taken to the Phi Mu suite.

When Elizabeth Hawkins, a business pre-major sophomore, heard about what Oaks was trying to do, she said that she admired her work.

"I think it's ambitious and I think it's something that not a lot of people think about it," Hawkins said.