Instead of the Dishes » Mommyhood » Supporting a Soldier (or two, or three…)
Supporting a Soldier (or two, or three…)
I recently sent a care package to my old high school buddy, Travis, who just started a year-long tour in Iraq. I had never sent a care package before, and it turned out to be an educational project. It’s a great project if you have middle school and older kids, too. It gets them thinking about what everyday life is like for the soldiers, and of course there are the lessons in geography and politics to be had, too.
If you don’t know anyone stationed overseas, you can still send a letter or care package to show your support. AnySoldier.com will match you up with a member of the military who could use some love from home. If you do want to send a care package, they will help you figure out what to send.
In my case, Travis had a specific request for healthy food. He works nights searching cars at a military checkpoint and misses breakfast and lunch because he is sleeping. Healthy food that ships well to a hot place is hard to find, but I finally settled on these items:
- dried fruit
- protein bars
- cereal and fruit bars
- granola
- Horizon’s single-serving, organic milk. (These are great because they are ultra-pasturized and don’t require refrigeration)
All these items turned out to be pretty heavy once they were packed – almost 10 pounds. I expected the shipping to be around $30, but it was only $14. However, the postal clerk informed me that you can use the USPS flat rate shipping boxes to send items to military addresses. When you use those boxes, the most you will be charged is $11.95 for up to 70 pounds (that’s a lot o’ mail!). The boxes are free and available at the post office or on the USPS website.
One other thing to note: You’ll need to fill out a customs form when sending a package to an overseas military address. The post offices have them sitting out with all the other shipping forms, so you can fill it out before you get up to the clerk.
So, brightening a compatriot’s day is not as hard as you might think. It might make your day a little brighter too.
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Filed under: Mommyhood · Tags: care package, military mail, what to send troops
9 Responses to "Supporting a Soldier (or two, or three…)"
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I helped organize a “Love Box” drive at my church. We collected over 125 boxes using the large flat rate shipping boxes from USPS (filled to the brim) and hand delivered them to injured marines at Camp Pendleton (here in Southern CA). Guys who have returned home still injured and needing more time to recover and rehab were extremely appreciative of receiving the boxes. We have also sent boxes to men & women serving overseas as well in the past. Thanks for your post. I hope people do take the time to put together a box. Regardless of how you feel about the war, these brave men & women need to know we respect them and the sacrifices they are making.
Being married to a former sailor, I know what a difference these care packages make to those who are overseas for extended periods of time. ESPECIALLY to the single men/women who don’t have spouses/families to do this for them. Your package of goodies sounds perfect!
Fawn–
how awesome of you…I just reconnected with Travis on FB and found out he was in Iraq. I am sure that he loved your thoughtful pkg! Hope all is well!
That is awesome.
Even though this post was initially published in 2010, it still holds true today. Thank you for the food item list and the organization that will help us find a soldier in need.
Thanks for linking to me on your blog, and thanks for spreading the word about soldier care packages!
I am an Independent Mary Kay sales Director and as a project, we collected products from our line to send to women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have a big group, and our goal was to send 500 products. We called it “The Women Warrior Project,” and had planned on collecting 500 products. Well, we had 500 products within the first week. By the end of the time period (three months) we had collected almost 10,000 items——skin care, makeup, body care, sunscreen. The Mary Kay consultants donated products from their inventories. We also opened it up to our customers and they also purchased products to donate. We were lucky to have some of our salespeople who were students at Ohio State University who were also in the Air Force ROTC, and as a service project, they bagged and shipped all of our products. We started receiving thank you notes from the soldiers and the whole product made everyone feel wonderful. I think that if anyone out there has a Mary Kay consultant, you could talk to them about sponsoring a similar project. The women overseas don’t have access to many girly things and they miss them. Great blog!!!
If people want to contact me for more information on the Woman Warrior Project, feel free to visit my blog
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What a great idea, Cyntha! I love this – A perfect example of how people can make a bigger difference than they think they can. Thanks for stopping by!