Alpharetta church thanks troops with Operation Oreo

Every year, members of Alpharetta First United Methodist Church pack up Oreo cookies to ship to men and women serving abroad in the military. 

Church members call the mission "Operation Oreo." 

Dr. Don Martin, the senior pastor, told FOX 5 the response has been overwhelming and keeps getting better every year.

"The first time they brought over 2,000 packages," Martin said. "This Sunday, five tons of Oreos." 

Since 2009, church members and others in the surrounding community have piled up enough cookies to ship Oreos by the box load every July to military bases in central and western Asia. Most of the cookies are shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and they all come from people who hope a sweet treat will put a smile on the face of those serving our country. 

Pastor Martin hopes Operation Oreo will spread to other churches so that even more troops will receive cookies after Independence Day. He said people have asked why the church doesn't send other types of treats and he said he just wants to keep a simple promise to a soldier he met in 2009, who missed double stuffed Oreos while he was deployed.