Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday a "regional collection system" of locations where Hoosiers can donate new goods for Afghan evacuees at Camp Atterbury.

Department of Homeland Security officials provided an update Wednesday on Operation Allies Welcome, saying that the number of Afghan evacuees temporarily housed at Camp Atterbury has grown to nearly 7,000.

Evacuees from Afghanistan continue to arrive at Camp Atterbury as part of Operation Allies Welcome. The number of people at the base is growing, and some have already begun settling in the U.S.

Camp Atterbury, about 25 miles south of Indianapolis, is expected to receive approximately 5,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

A plane carrying the refugees landed Thursday afternoon at Indianapolis International Airport. The refugees were processed and then boarded buses for the drive to the base.

Indiana is preparing to receive 5,000 Afghan evacuees at Camp Atterbury in the coming weeks, with the first 1,000 set to arrive by this weekend.

Camp Atterbury joins Fort Pickett, Marine Corps Base Quantico and Fort Lee in Virginia; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.; and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey in providing temporary housing and support for up to 50,000 Afghan people.

The Department of Defense had agreed to provide the State Department additional temporary housing and support for special visa applicants as quickly as possible. Camp Atterbury is a civilian and National Guard training post under DOD control.

As a part of a 10-year agreement, the NRA's competitive shooting division will bring national and regional competitions as well as firearms training and safety courses to the facility.

If approved, the solar farm and battery storage equipment would become the first so-called "microgrid" at any National Guard facility in the state.