Ironton resident Mariah Noel had a vision to help veterans for Christmas. On Tuesday, she and her family and friends delivered 160 gift baskets to the Huntington, West Virginia, VA Hospital and the Barboursville Veterans Home.

“I have a soft heart for the veterans,” she said. “I’ve seen far too many veterans go without anything on Christmas.”

Noel said she’s always wanted to help veterans around Christmas, but has never done anything on this scale before this year.

“I started the project right after Thanksgiving, so we’ve only been getting donations for about a month,” she said. “Everything was purchased with donations and we raised a little over $1,600.”

Word about Noel’s project was put out for people to donate $10 for a basket, which included various gifts for the veterans.

“This couldn’t have been done without all of the donations,” Noel said. “I want to thank everyone that donated.”