Two DeKalb armed forces veterans and a local bar owner are planning a June 5 party to put together care packages for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

AMVETS Commander Tom Carey said they hope to raise $2,000 to help purchase care package items including canned fruit, batteries, flashlights, CDs and CD players.

The party is the fifth this year planned by Carey, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion member Jerry Carroll and KJ’s Tap co-owner Kim Knowlton.

Knowlton said some items for the packages are donated. For the last party, Petco donated 300 flea collars for the troops to wear around their boots to ward off sand fleas.

Knowlton’s interest in the cause began when a KJ’s bartender, Sgt. Dale Luker, was sent to Iraq with the 333rd Military Police Company. Luker has come home with pneumonia , Knowlton said, but his company remains in Iraq.

“I want to get them a package shipped right away because they need a morale boost right now,” Knowlton said.

Recently, company members had been told they were going home and their belongings were sent home ahead of them, she said. Then the company was told it would be in Iraq 90 more days.

For the time being, they have nothing but the shirts on their backs and the boots on their feet, Knowlton said.

With the “G.I. Party” proceeds, the group will purchase about $100 worth of goods for each of 36 care packages to be sent to DeKalb County-area troops at war, VFW Commander-elect Paul Kallembach said.

“[The troops] are under extreme conditions right now, and everybody is trying to show support,” Kallembach said.

VFW Post No. 2287, 421 Oak St., will host a picnic dinner of chicken-on-a-spit with side dishes. The indoor/outdoor affair will include raffles and auctions of donated items, Kallembach said.

“The club is small but has a huge heart,” Carroll said.