Capt. Nekita Hunter had 17 years of Army training, nine as a nurse, yet zero preparation for the desperate need for towels for bathing at the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, Iraq.

So she did what any 21st-century soldier would do – she reached out to her Facebook friends.

"Our hospital is running very low on towels for our patients to use, so if any of you are willing/able, please send us some towels for our injured troops," she posted Dec. 2.

Hunter expected a few of her friends would answer the call. She did not expect Towels for Troops.

Cari Anderson-Henley, Hunter's classmate from elementary all the way through Garland High School, was among the first to respond. Anderson-Henley saw potential numbers in enlisting her sister-in-law, Sachse kindergarten teacher Erin Anderson.

But, like Hunter, they did not foresee the wildfire of support that has spread from Sewell Elementary throughout the Garland school district in the last two weeks. Nine boxes of towels, 35 to 55 pounds each, were sent from Sewell on Thursday. The beneficiaries have grown beyond Hunter's hospital.

"I expected a few of my friends to send towels, but not the whole GISD and Sewell Elementary," Hunter wrote on Facebook.

She said her hospital will fly a flag in honor of the school district on Christmas Eve. "We have four different locations that are currently being supported by this, and everyone is excited to be receiving this great gift from people who care and are supporting us."

Not just any people. They are kids, giving up recess to fold towels.

"They're young and don't always have an opportunity to help the soldiers," Anderson said. "Not only is this going to our troops but to our injured and wounded troops. These are our guys. They have sacrificed emotionally, selflessly and don't even have a towel to bathe with."

Hunter, a critical-care nurse, explained the shortage. When trauma cases come in bundles, those patients get the towels and, once bloodstained, the towels can't be used again. Supplies are ordered routinely, she said, but the number of convoys has decreased since troops were pulled out of the cities last summer.

It's become a little chaotic at the collections end, too, organizers admit. Though Garland schools have a 20-year tradition in the Garland Christmas Association's annual canned food drive, they have been quick to jump in when word spread that the appeal was from Hunter, one of their own.

"Locations that we were not even aware of have been contacting us," Anderson said. "We're not even sure of the exhaustive list of who's doing this."

After landing a donation for boxes, the drive organizers are now trying to figure out how to tackle the shipping costs of the unexpected windfall.

"We figure about $30 to $50 a box," said Susan Reinke, Sewell counselor. She said Friday that up to 1,000 towels, including donations from seven other campuses and the administration building, still need to be packaged and shipped.

But that won't deter the effort from spilling over into the second semester, at least at Sewell.

"This isn't just because it's Christmas," Anderson said. "It happens to be at Christmas that we heard about this. But their need is ongoing."

The staff of Sewell Elementary in the Garland school district has launched Towels for Troops, an effort to get new, unused towels to the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, Iraq. For more information or to help, e-mail JEUAnder@garlandisd.net or SCreinke@garlandisd.net.