You hear stories all the time about people sending things to our troops serving overseas. Everything from food to socks get shipped to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, to give our soldiers a little taste of home.

But this week, I talked with two metro residents who are sending something truly unique to our fighting men and women. And it's gotten a tremendous response.

Cheryl Herrington and Larry Mills both have ties to the military. Cheryl's father was in the military and her brother died in Vietnam. Mills is a retired marine. They're also clowns. "Sweet Pea" and "Pappy" is be exact, when the makeup's on. They've been making people smile around here for years and now they've found a way to bring that joy to troops half a world away.

It's simple really. Easy to package and ship, too. Cheryl and Larry are sending red clown noses to our soldiers. That's right: those silly round noses that clowns wear as part of their costumes. The pair started sending out the noses last July and have already sent 13,000 of them. They've gotten a pile of E-mails and pictures back from the troops, including great photographs of soldiers proudly wearing the red noses. The e-mails and letters describe how the noses brightened the soldiers' day.

Larry gets emotional when he sees the pictures. He knows how much something like that can help the troops forget what's going on around them, at least for a little while. Cheryl says if something this simple can help the soldiers, they have to do it.

Cheryl and Larry's effort is called The Red Nose Institute and it's funded by donations. If you'd like to help, you can visit their website: TheRedNoseInstitute.com