By the time Deb Schiller returned home on the Friday after Thanksgiving last year, she had three-quarters of her Christmas presents bought, wrapped and ready to place under the tree.

“I power shopped,” Schiller said. “I knew I had to get as much done as I could that day.”

She owed much of her shopping success to Donna Robbins, who took care of her four children so that she could have a few hours alone to shop.

“It was such a blessing to me,” Schiller said. “I didn’t get many offers from people willing to watch all four kids so I could go shopping while my husband was deployed. I couldn’t thank Donna enough.”

Robbins started the Day After Thanksgiving Day Care last year to offer support to families of deployed military members. This year she’s opening the free service up to all military families, whether deployed or not.

“I thought that this would be a good way for them to have some quality time together without having to worry about day care,” Robbins said. “It’s also a way for their children to meet other children in the same situation, which can be very good for them.”

Robbins knows how it feels to be to a military spouse. She served in the U.S. Navy herself, and her husband, Steve, only recently retired after a 24-year career with the U.S. Army. It was during his deployment to Iraq in 2005-06, in fact, that she decided she needed to do something for other families back home.

“While he was over there, he told me about how much fulfillment he got out of helping the people there,” she says. “I wanted to be a part of that. And because I know what it’s like to be an Army wife and to be on your own with the kids, I thought that I could try to help out others here at home.”

But she also understands how hard it is for military spouses to ask for help, even when it’s been offered.

“When Steve was deployed, a lot of people said, ‘Call me if you need help,’” Robbins said. “But when you need help at the last minute, it’s hard to call somebody.”

That’s why Robbins wants her Day After Thanksgiving Day Care to be as easy as possible for military parents.

Drop-off at Hosanna Lutheran Church, which allows Robbins to use its space, begins at 7 a.m. (last year, she started at 6 a.m. — but no one came that early). Snell Motors is providing a shuttle to take parents to and from local shopping centers. The children will be fed breakfast, lunch and snacks as well, thanks to help from such sponsors as Hy-Vee, Kwik Trip and Kraft Foods.

Although only three families and eight total children took advantage of the free day care in 2007, Robbins was committed to offering the service again this year. Many of the volunteers who helped out last year are willing to help again this year — including her husband.

“Steve was supposed to work that day,” Robbins said. “But he said, ‘Sorry, I can’t do it. I’ve got to help my wife.’ He’s been very supportive.”

Schiller will be back, too. Her husband, Dana, returned from his year-long deployment to Kosovo in July, and they’re both looking forward to spending the day together shopping.