The Utah Federation of Republican Women is sponsoring a service campaign from now through June 28 to assist Landstuhl Hospital, the largest overseas military hospital, to gather outerwear for U.S. troops in the Middle East. The results will be announced at its conference, "From Sea to Shining Sea," to be held June 28.

The federation is collecting sets of T-shirts and shorts or a monetary donation. White cotton T-shirts and plain black cotton shorts are the key articles of clothing collected because they are comfortable, loose-fitting and lightweight for the heat of Iraq while remaining free from becoming obstructive to any equipment or medical apparatus connected to the cots.

The conference will be held at the Larry H. Miller Free Enterprise Center Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration begins at 10:15 a.m. The cost is $45. For more information, e-mail lebeauxtrois@yahoo.com with "conference" in the text.

Monetary donations can be made by going online to www.PayPal.com and entering ufrw@hotmail.com. If not registering for the conference at the time of donation, please specify "donation" in the text box. To schedule a donation pick-up, call 801-607-2189 or 801-731-0654.

Vickie McCall, who operates the project on the West Coast, will keynote the conference, speaking of her experiences touring Southeast Asia. Other guest speakers include Middle East experts Victor Ludlow, coordinator of the Near Eastern Studies program at Brigham Young University, and Donna Lee Bowen, director of the Middle East/Arabic program at BYU.

Ludlow's presentation includes the cultures, politics, religions, history and where these cultures may be headed. Bowen will present information fresh from her most recent return from the Middle East only days before the conference. Additionally, Barbara Melendez, a well-respected Immigration Attorney, will address the complexities of American citizenship. Lunch is included in the conference registration fee.