Packages for service people?

[lewdyan1]

I was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to send a care package to service people serving overseas? I was told that you need to have a specific name. I don't know anyone, but I would like to send something to show support and to let them know they are not forgotten.

Any info is appreciated.

 

[Auggietina]

www.booksforsoldiers.com
www.treatfortroops.com (this website you purchase their packages and then they ship to a soldier)

Those are two were you can 'adopt' a soldier!

I can tell you from experience, that letters are VERY MUCH apprecitated, Just as much or more than any care package.

Have fun! Sending Care packages are addicting!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i use anysoldier.com....i know yo ucant write any soldier on it, but on the letters i would just write it on the inside--i keep in conctact with a couple of guys i wrote to and they told me the letters are the best things they get

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

The Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul authors are working on a specific campaign to purchase our military members items to help them through the hot months in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan....

For example: The military issues some sort of breathable fabric undershirts that the Army guys wear in the field. The military can only afford to purchase 1-2 of these shirts for each guy because they cost about $20 each.

The guys can't turn these shirts around often enough to wear them every day. But when they don't wear them, the 115+ degree temperatures literally make the guys roast in their own sweat. Their skin is in horrible shape, making combat conditions even worse.

If it's something you are interested in contributing to, the address is www.militarysoul.org. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this Chicken Soup book go to purchase these items.

 

[Auggietina]

Wow I'm glad the Army is providing them with those shirts now. We had to buy them out of our own pocket. At $25 a shirt its not cheap! Not to mention the $20 pair of underwear!

 

[doombuggy]

That is wonderful that you want to do this. My cousin is in the Al Anbar providence and I try to write to him every couple of weeks. I sent him a package earlier in his tour (he left in Feb & is supposed to come home in Oct), and again a couple of weeks ago. We sold these little dog tag like pins at Pin Traders (I work at Downtown Disney) that said "thank you" & had Mickey & Minnie dressed in uniform. I also sent him an American flag antenna topper. I haven't heard from him since his letter dated April 30, but I know he talks to his dad (my uncle, 30 yr USMC vet) often. He has said how much it means to get real mail, so if you can do this, please do. It will make someone's day.

 

[kevin luby]

you can send packages to the unit or command or ships miltary address-these can be found on individual websites of the unit or command or ship, etc. you can get these addresses off of the main sites for the services. Address the package to a specific department or division or maybe even the public affairs office of the command, etc.

Books get distributed to the libraries and the service members take the books they want and read them-don't even have to worry about returning them unless they are specifically property of the command and not a donated item such as paperbacks.


For clothing supplies etc, find the address to the MWR office or donate directly to the USO, etc and they can disperse the items appropriately for you.

Kevin Luby
CVN 74

 

[lewdyan1]

Thank you for all of the great suggestions. We have a USO office real close to my house, I am contacting them.

 

[Alice28]

I just got this from our Oregon NAt'l Guard newspaper today:

First of all get those flat rate boxes of $7.70 that you can stuff to the brim- it's saved me a lot of money mailing stuff to DH!They're available at your local post office in two sizes.

Here are a bunch of different addresses for Oregon soldiers:

Afghanistan:

CPT David Doran
Flight ops
D Company/ 113 AVN
Task Force Storm
APO AE 09355-9998
approx 95 soldiers

Iraq:
CPT Eric Walstrom
Troop F/82 CAV/29 BCT
LSA Camp Anaconda
APO AE 09391
95 soldiers (my DH is in this one)

1SG Darrell Walz OR CPT Teruo Chinen
G Troop/ 1-163 IN BN
116th BCT FWD
APO AE 09368
150 soldiers


CSM Joseph Brooks
HHC/ 3-116th CAV
116th BCT FWD
APO AE 09368
250 soldiers

CPT Dominic Kotz
A Company/3-116 CAV
116th BCT FWD
APO AE 09368
65 soldiers

1LT Jeffrey Clements
B Company/ 3-116 CAV
116th BCT FWD
APO AE 09368
65 soldiers

1LT Chris Lennox OR 1LT David Ramblin
1071st Maint Co.
RSS/278th RCT
FOB Caldwell
APO AE 09324
75 soldiers

CW4 Joseph Mollahan
Co. A, 249th AVIM
APO AE 09391
10 soldiers

Check www.anysoldier.com for any restrictions.

 

[Gone Disney]

I'm also a fan of anysoldier.com

I have no family or close friends in the service at this time but, I still wanted to do my part. Especially because it seems like so little for so much. ie. a care package for freedom, it just seemed like the least I could do.

Thanks to all the Vets!

patti

 

[Alice28]

I just got my family newsletter- something of interest to send that the medics are requesting- BASIC meds for children. Like children's tylenol, pedialyte, bandaids, children's motrin, etc.

 

[the kabuki]

The DIS has come through again! I'm in charge of DS's cub scout monthly pack meetings and was just thinking it would be a great idea for the boys' to send care packages to the troops.

How does one go about doing this , I ask myself?? Well I'll check out the DIS, surely someone there will know and lo and behold I come right to this thread! Thanks everyone!

I've looked over at the anysoldier.com site and I'll admit my head is spinning. So many restrictions and forms-wow! Guess I'll be investigating over there for the rest of the night.

ALICE28-You've said the Medics are requesting basic meds, are these ok to send, I mean are there any type of restrictions on sending medications over there?

Also you mentioned a flat rate box of $7.70 that's available, but I noticed on the anysoldier website they're showing something available from the Post office called USPS Military Care Package kit that seems like it's free to groups trying to send things over. Should I be looking into getting these instead? We're don't have much $ to work with, the Pack may cover shipping expenses, but that's about it. If I could get the boxes for free that would be terrific

 

[hans02]

Also you mentioned a flat rate box of $7.70 that's available, but I noticed on the anysoldier website they're showing something available from the Post office called USPS Military Care Package kit that seems like it's free to groups trying to send things over. Should I be looking into getting these instead? We're don't have much $ to work with, the Pack may cover shipping expenses, but that's about it. If I could get the boxes for free that would be terrific

Well I am speaking from experience regarding the Flat Rate boxes. My mom has saved more than she has spent sending me care packages in those $7.70 boxes. They are not big, but when packed properly they can get quite heavy. Now this serves 2 purposes, cheap to send a lot more stuff, and the boxes damage on the trip here to Iraq is minimal.

And another gift idea, yeah it is a little more expensive and the book doesn't come out until this winter, but the Knowing the Enemy book that is described in my thread about that book, is a very intriguing topic. Also, after being here and experiencing the culture of Islam, it is something I feel a little a part of. My fiancee, already told me not to order the book because someone plans on getting it for me for Christmas. OOOO, I just got an idea for gift ideas for some of my family (I gotta write that down). Well I will get off my soapbox now, but if any of you have any questions reqarding this or any other Iraq subject please feel free to ask. I know that the Moderators will probably hate it if you post your question as a thread instead of in a Private Message, but that would probably be best so everyone can know the answer.

 

[the kabuki]

Well I am speaking from experience regarding the Flat Rate boxes. My mom has saved more than she has spent sending me care packages in those $7.70 boxes. They are not big, but when packed properly they can get quite heavy. Now this serves 2 purposes, cheap to send a lot more stuff, and the boxes damage on the trip here to Iraq is minimal.

And another gift idea, yeah it is a little more expensive and the book doesn't come out until this winter, but the Knowing the Enemy book that is described in my thread about that book, is a very intriguing topic. Also, after being here and experiencing the culture of Islam, it is something I feel a little a part of. My fiancee, already told me not to order the book because someone plans on getting it for me for Christmas. OOOO, I just got an idea for gift ideas for some of my family (I gotta write that down). Well I will get off my soapbox now, but if any of you have any questions reqarding this or any other Iraq subject please feel free to ask. I know that the Moderators will probably hate it if you post your question as a thread instead of in a Private Message, but that would probably be best so everyone can know the answer.

So you don't suggest using the USPS care package boxes that are shown on the anysoldier.com site? Just want to make sure that the supplies get to where they should be, and get there in one piece.

I read through the anysoldier.com site, and have seen the specific requests for items, so I kind of have an idea of what to start off with sending.

One thing I did read was about sending Beanie Babies (new or used). That these are nice for the troops to hand out to the local children in creating goodwill. Would you think this would be appropriate in addition to the items that are specifically requested? Or should we not do this?

Thank you, and God Bless!

 

[hans02]

I did not suggest to not use the anysoldier boxes, I was just simply telling how much money can be saved using the flat rate box. If the boxes that anysoldier suggests end up costing more than the flat rate boxes, the flat rate would be the way to go.

Okay now about the beanie babies and such, I was in downtown Baghdad for a portion of the deployment. Whenever the anysoldier packages came it everyone rushed to see what was in there (infact I took a picture once, and labeled it "Voltures"). When I would get there, all the really good stuff would usually be gone, but anything that was candy I would grab. Now I was very maticulously watching what I was eating, and I am sure that people wondered, What does Hansen do with all that candy? Well I would hand it out to the kids on the street when I would be going to or coming from lunch or dinner. It felt absolutely awesome sharing with these children.

So yes, I do suggest that you give stuff that can be given to Iraqis specififcally the children. HOWEVER, it is probably best to write to the person that you are going to send the care package to before you send all this stuff, because there are some people that never go outside the base, and many who never get a chance to meet the local nationals. Now me, because of my job I still see locals from time to time, but I deal with adults who are working for the US as translators or however, so Beanie Babies would not be a good thing to send my direction. (Oh and I do not need anything, we are just over a month away from going home, and it would take too long to get here, but thanks if you were thinking about asking).

 

[the kabuki]

Thank you so much for the additional info. On the anysoldier.com site, while it lists the specific person and address of whom to send the packages, they don't list email addresses, so I wouldn't be able to email them before sending.

Reading through the soldier requests, I'm not able to tell if the unit goes off base, so while the beanie baby idea is good, I'm thinking the bags of hard candy are probably better, at least for now.

Glad to hear you're only a month away from coming home. Take care, Thank you for being there, and God Bless

 

[Stacy9402]

Here is my brothers address. HE is with the 623rd National Guard Unit and has been there since January. I had been sending snacks and other things and just learnt that every package that I send is shared with his unit. Which is great but I wasn't sending all that much just what I could. They are running low on snack items.. They have to be something that won'y melt so If anyone wants to send him a package to be shared with the unit the address is :

Revised to take out his name and addy please email me for his addy. Thanks.
stacygibson@cox.net


I will be so glad when he gets home he is totally missing his daughter's 1st year of life. I know it hurts him dearly but he wants the world to be safe for her.

Thanks
Stacy

Please email me with any questions stacygibson@cox.net please put DISBOARDS in subject line