A Peachtree City boy scout is undertaking a campaign to provide bags and other "comfort" items to U.S. troops who have been injured while serving in the Middle East.

Matthew Niebes, a freshman at McIntosh High School, is asking for backpacks, duffle bags or any other kind of bag ... so long as they are black or navy blue — to comply with military regulations — and either new or gently used.

The bags will be provided to troops when they reach the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility in Ramstein, Germany, Niebes said, noting that in one month as many as 450 soldiers from all branches of the military could pass through the facility. There, they receive medical treatment, food, phone cards and money to buy clothes and food.

But the money can't be spent on bags, so soldiers end up using grocery bags and the like to carry their belongings, Niebes said. Military regulations require the funds to be spent on clothes and food only, Niebes said.

That's where his project comes in, and where Niebes hopes local residents will help chip in.

Niebes also is collecting comfort items such as socks, deodorant, shampoo, eye covers, tooth paste, tooth brushes, combs, mouth wash, or anything else that could be found in an amenities kit. He is using this project to meet one of the requirements for the Eagle Scout badge he is pursuing.

Collection boxes for the bags and comfort items have been established at several locations: Peachtree City United Methodist Church at 225 Robinson Road, Peachtree City; Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church at 101 North Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City; Peachtree City Library at 201 Willowbend Road, Peachtree City; Georgia Mortgage at 500 West Lanier Avenue, Suite 503, Fayetteville; and at the Fayette County Fire Station in Tyrone at 935 Senoia Road.

Interested persons may also call Niebes at 770-631-0771.

"Any donations would be greatly appreciated," Niebes said.

Niebes has already sent one shipment of bags and other items to Ramstein, and another shipment will be sent at Thanksgiving, he said. Niebes got the idea from his sister-in-law Katie Niebes, who has been working with the injured troops while her husband, Jonathan, is stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base.