They brave temperatures over 110 degrees as they trudge through farms and across the desert.

They also risk their lives as they search for two missing soldiers in an area so volatile, it's been dubbed the "triangle of death." So far, two soldiers have been killed during the two-week-long search.

With everything the 4,000 troops have done to find the soldiers, especially Army Spc. Alex Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, James Sereigo-Wareing thought they deserved a big "thank you" from the community. So he's putting together care packages for the soldiers who have been involved in the search, dubbing the project the "Search Team Appreciation Drive."

"They've been working tirelessly," Sereigo-Wareing said of the searchers. "They should be rewarded in one way or another."

He said he thinks that with help and donations from others in the area, he can send gifts to between 1,000 and 2,000 troops - a quarter to half of the soldiers involved with the search.

"We won't be able to touch everyone," he said. "It's the thought behind it, from the community."

Jimenez has been missing since a May 12 ambush in Iraq in which five others were killed. Military officials believe he and another soldier were captured by terrorists - and the military has pledged to keep looking until both men are found.

Helping our men and women fighting overseas is nothing new for Sereigo-Wareing, who has been putting together care packages for troops since 2004, when he formed New England Caring for Our Military out of his Methuen home. Sereigo-Wareing also puts patriotic signs up at highway crossings and was responsible for the one over Interstate 495 with Jimenez's name, which has been in place for about a week now.

But Sereigo-Wareing said the Search Team Appreciation Drive is special because it will give people in the community a chance to thank the troops for doing their part to find Jimenez. The missing soldier has touched the hearts of people throughout the Merrimack Valley, and many are frustrated because there's little they can do except wait for word on his fate.

"It really helps the community stand together," Sereigo-Wareing said. "It's almost like they're united for a common cause, to make the soldiers feel better."

One of the soldiers likely to get a package is Jon Stras, a 19-year-old from Andover. The fact that he is from the area, and has been part of the search, inspired Sereigo-Wareing to begin the care package project.

Sereigo-Wareing hopes to send a larger package - it's cheaper to send one box with gift bags for 30 to 40 soldiers instead of separate packages to each person - and have Stras give out the items to others in his unit. Sereigo-Wareing thought it would be nice for someone from the Merrimack Valley to personally give out the thank-you presents from other members of the community.

Included in each gift bag will be a letter saying something like this, Sereigo-Wareing said: "This is a gift from our community. We know you went through extraordinary means in the search, especially for Alex, who was from our own community."

One searcher's mother, Anne Chay, knows her son, Stras, and his fellow searchers will appreciate the gesture.

"They love just being remembered and thought of," she said. "I think it's awesome."

But Chay isn't sure where to have the package sent to, since there's talk of her son's unit being moved to another location. She hopes there will be time to find out where he'll be by the time the packages are ready for the mail.

That won't happen until mid-June, as Sereigo-Wareing is planning to spend the next couple of weeks collecting donations for the care packages. Then, on June 16, the Saturday after Flag Day, up to 100 people will gather at Sereigo-Wareing's home to put the packages together.

Until then, donations can be dropped off at veterans and senior centers in both Lawrence and Methuen.

More donation sites will be announced later this week. Sereigo-Wareing also is looking for churches or other organizations to volunteer to become a donation site.

For more details on the Search Team Appreciation Drive, call Sereigo-Wareing at 978-682-4979.