An Army mom from Albany is raising money to buy her son's unit something he and his buddies want to help beat the heat in Baghdad: a machine that makes frozen carbonated beverages.

Sharon Crary said her son, Pfc. Preston Crary, 21, a chaplain's assistant with the 82nd Airborne, asked for a Slurpee-style machine that could make enough drinks to serve up to 100 soldiers at a time. Preston told his mother the machine would be a "great morale booster."

The beverage maker would remain in Iraq when Preston rotates home in March or April 2008.

Serving with Preston as part of the 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team are a mixture of infantry, medics, mechanics and other support soldiers.

Because of the complexities involved in raising money and sending such a large parcel overseas, Crary has partnered with Give 2 The Troops, a national, patriotic, nonpartisan and nonpolitical organization formed to support deployed troops. Members work to provide letters and care packages to all branches of the military serving in war zones.

"Working with the organization enables us to purchase the machine wholesale and provide a tax-deductible receipt to those making donations," she said. "The machine costs about $1,600 with shipping and supplies, such as flavorings and cups. I figure the total cost will be about $2,500."

Those wishing to make donations as part of Operation Icy Treat can send them to: G2TT-Albany Group, P.O. Box 2405, Albany, OR 97321.

Crary said she just now is getting the word out about the need for the machine.

She and her family are relatively new to Albany so do not have an extended network to tap into for funds. She is using the Democrat-Herald to help with her mission.

The family moved to Albany from Hillsboro when Preston was 16.

Sharon Crary teaches private English speech improvement classes but is taking time off right now to raise money to buy the beverage machine. Her husband, Jon, is an instrumentation technician at Georgia-Pacific in Halsey.

Preston was home-schooled but took two classes at Linn-Benton Community College during his high school years.

He has a sister, Heather, who lives in Hillsboro.