On Friday, Michals and a group of volunteers gathered to pack cloth bags with items to welcome home National Guard members who were deployed from Marshall last year.

“Our goal is to provide 70 reintegration packs to the 70 soldiers coming home this spring,” Michals said.

Michals and volunteers including fellow Scouts from Troop 238, family members and friends, formed an assembly line around a few tables at the Campus Religious Center at Southwest Minnesota State University. Starting with a stack of 70 bags, they worked to fill them with everything from snacks and notes of encouragement, to coupons and fun items like decks of cards.

The work went fast, but Michals said there was a lot of planning that went into the project.

Photo by Deb Gau Michals and volunteers formed an assembly line Friday, to fill bags with items like coupons, gift cards and snacks for National Guard soldiers who were deployed from Marshall last spring.

“I always knew I wanted to do something for the military,” he said.

U.S. military service members around the world play a big role in serving their country, he said. The members of Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 151 Field Artillery Regiment who were deployed in May 2025 were from across Minnesota and other states – even as far away as Florida, Michals said.

Michals worked with Becky Johnson and Carmen Brunsvold, a soldier and family readiness specialist in southwest Minnesota, to help develop a project that would support National Guard soldiers.

“She helped me a lot through this,” Michals said of Brunsvold.

At first, Michals said he had wanted to get together holiday care packages for soldiers. “Then, they suggested maybe doing something for when they return,” he said.

“The whole goal is to help (soldiers) get reintegrated to civilian life,” Michals said of his project.

Michals reached out to area businesses and organizations for donations to put together reintegration packages. He said the packs would contain items like gift cards, coupons and snacks. He said organizations like the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum even donated passes that returning soldiers could use.

“They’ve been kind to us,” Michals said of area donors.

It took a lot of work behind the scenes to plan out the service project, get approval, and get community donations, Michals said. He also had to keep track of the hours, volunteers and donations that went into the project. But it was good to see the everything come together.

“It really gives me a sense of pride” to see all the community members who wanted to help support the troops, he said. Michals was also thankful for support from the volunteers Friday.