SAVANNAH — The Coastal Bank, a community bank serving coastal Georgia, launched its third annual initiative to raise money for the USO’s Operation Phone Home, which provides prepaid phone cards to deployed military personnel, enabling them to call loved ones while away from their families this holiday season.

The bank will lead the 2012 fundraising campaign for USO Operation Phone Home, which runs through Nov. 30.

“This campaign is a small way for us to express our gratitude for their selfless sacrifice and service to our nation,” said Jim LaHaise, acting bank president and CEO. “Our goal is to put at least one phone card in the hands of every soldier and service member in our area who is deployed during the holidays.”

The public is invited to join the bank and the USO in connecting deployed soldiers from the Coastal Empire and the Lowcountry to their loved ones.

A $5 donation will provide a service member with a phone card. Cards will be given in December to deployed members of the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Naval Reserve.

Anyone donating $5 or more will be entered into a drawing to win one free Chick-fil-A sandwich per week for a year. Two winners will be announced at the conclusion of the campaign.

The public can buy phone cards online at www.phonehomesav.com or visit a Coastal Bank branch to make a donation to the campaign. The Hinesville branch is at 101 W. Hendry St.

“We are fortunate to live in such a generous community, where people are willing to support our local service men and women,” said Mitchell Bush, president of USO of Georgia-Savannah. “This year, we hope to raise a record number of phone cards for service members serving overseas during the holiday season.”

For more information about the USO, go to www.uso.org.