The Care Package Project -- an Update

[Ehelldame]

The shoe box sized USPS flat rate box is 9X12 which is perfect for magazines, paper, notebooks. 

[Venus193]

That sounds excellent.  I definitely want to contribute to the Afghani school project.

[Venus193]

If you're sending care packages might I recommend a, um, personal item to include? Cream and powder for athlete's foot and jock itch. My fiance is in Baghdad right now, and he begged me to send him some ASAP. Apparently he was having a difficult time finding any there. (You would think they would stay stocked up on that sort of item!)

I've been asking myself that same question.  A constant theme of the female posts is feminine hygiene products. 

I suspect that there is either insufficient space in cargo planes or the anticipated need falls short of reality.  Either way it's a good thing to send to to female servicepeople, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I just requested the name of a female Airman who is in Afghanistan looking for "chick flicks."   

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

OK, I have requested my soldier 2 hours ago and have not received an address yet, hoping I did it correctly.

Last night while shopping I saw these on sale...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/warm-delights/warm-delights

anyone think this would be a good idea or a bad idea (my soldier has access to a microwave) or should I stick to Little Debbie snack cakes?

There are 5 people in his "unit" that he can get packages to, 4 males and one female, so I plan on doing a female hygiene box, 2 male hygiene boxes and 2 snack boxes (they really want those individual drink mixes!!!)

Any other good ideas???  They were not very specific.

[DottyG]

OK, I have requested my soldier 2 hours ago and have not received an address yet, hoping I did it correctly.

Last night while shopping I saw these on sale...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/warm-delights/warm-delights

anyone think this would be a good idea or a bad idea (my soldier has access to a microwave) or should I stick to Little Debbie snack cakes?

There are 5 people in his "unit" that he can get packages to, 4 males and one female, so I plan on doing a female hygiene box, 2 male hygiene boxes and 2 snack boxes (they really want those individual drink mixes!!!)

Any other good ideas???  They were not very specific.

Batteries, something to read (magazines, puzzle books, etc), popcorn (since they have a microwave), hand sanitizer (put in Ziploc bags to prevent leaking), letters, cards, something drawn by a child,......  Just about anything you want to send!

One note (that may have already been mentioned, but it's IMPORTANT) - do NOT put hygiene items in the same box as food items.  Make a box for strictly food and a box for strictly other stuff.  The smell and taste of hygiene products permeates food items in the boxes on the way over there.  Cookies that taste like jock itch cream are NOT GOING TO BE AT ALL TASTY TO THEM!!!

[aline]

Yesterday I also came across a couple of canine units requesting dog toys, treats, pictures of our dogs and all of the typical hygiene and food items for the handlers, in case anyone else is interested. Sgt. Patricia Hascall (Air Force) in particular has a nice blog set up with pictures and thank yous to those who have already helped. I'm going to put a couple more boxes together - one for the female handlers, and one for the dogs. 

[DottyG]

Yesterday I also came across a couple of canine units requesting dog toys, treats, pictures of our dogs and all of the typical hygiene and food items for the handlers, in case anyone else is interested. Sgt. Patricia Hascall (Air Force) in particular has a nice blog set up with pictures and thank yous to those who have already helped. I'm going to put a couple more boxes together - one for the female handlers, and one for the dogs. 

Those are the cutest pictures!   I love the one with the antlers!

(And, you'll have to forgive me for being a little "femaleish" here, but the guys are not bad looking either!   )

[Venus193]

The Betty Crocker things sound like real treats; that's probably the closest they'll get to something that tastes homemade.  I'd go for it.

Lil Debbie is practical most of the time, though, because they are always cheap and are easy to pack.  I would send some of both.

I just picked up 15 boxes of the bottled-water drink mix stuff my client makes.  I will probably break this up into 2 or three batches.  Not to be packed with the soap, of course.

[DottyG]

To those who have heard back from your troops....do you find that most of them have internet access?  Are you getting actual letters or emails?

I put both my snailmail and my email in the notes I sent, because I wasn't sure how they would want to contact me - if they do want to.  I hope it doesn't look weird, though, that I put my internet address on there - I hope they don't laugh at me and wonder why I thought they'd be able to have computers or the internet there.

[FoxPaws]

I'm about to go shopping for my first box. 

On the Little Debbie and other snacks - do you put the whole sealed box in the package, or do you take out the individually wrapped snacks out and pack them? What about the drink mixes?

Thanks for your help.

[aline]

I'm about to go shopping for my first box. 

On the Little Debbie and other snacks - do you put the whole sealed box in the package, or do you take out the individually wrapped snacks out and pack them? What about the drink mixes?

Thanks for your help.

I left them all in their sealed boxes because shipment overseas can take a bit of a beating along the way, and the original packaging is designed to survive being shipped to the stores where it is sold, so it helps make sure the item arrives as close to the condition it started in as possible. Loose food items have a way of turning into smashed crumbs otherwise. 

[Venus193]

To those who have heard back from your troops....do you find that most of them have internet access?  Are you getting actual letters or emails?

I put both my snailmail and my email in the notes I sent, because I wasn't sure how they would want to contact me - if they do want to.  I hope it doesn't look weird, though, that I put my internet address on there - I hope they don't laugh at me and wonder why I thought they'd be able to have computers or the internet there.

Nothing weird about this at all.  Some have regular access, others have intermittent access.  Until they respond you don't have a way to know.  My suggestion, therefore, is to enclose some postcards with a lot of white space and to stick an address label in the relevant space.  You can get free advertising-oriented postcards easily if you live in a major city.

One of my beneficiaries e-mails me and another sent back a postcard.  Military people in war zones can send snail mail home for free.

BTW, I received a thank-you letter from a colonel in Iraq who might be the commanding officer of someone I sent a package to.  Another thing to look forward to.

[Venus193]

I'm about to go shopping for my first box. 

On the Little Debbie and other snacks - do you put the whole sealed box in the package, or do you take out the individually wrapped snacks out and pack them? What about the drink mixes?

Thanks for your help.

Have fun shopping!

The Lil Debbie boxes are perfect for packing as they are.  There is a minimum of empty air in those boxes.  As for the drink mixes (I'm assuming you're talking about Crystal Light to Go, or similar), leave them in the boxes, too, for the recipients' peace of mind.  If you're sending envelopes of Koolade or similar, I suggest getting a Tupperware or Glad container to put them in to prevent the envelopes being torn in shipping.  That also provides a storage-capable or microwave-safe container for use by your soldier or sailor.

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

OK, so I finished shopping for my 5 boxes...and man I spen a LOT more than I thought I would and I got a TON of stuff, I hav stuff for about 10 boxes, so ome of the other items I was going to get will have to wait until later shipments.  I spent close to $200.00, about 150 of that was at the dollar tree!  They had name brand shampoios and deodrants, tooth pastes, feminine needs and such so I just stocked up on them for later.  They also had "Movie style" boxes of candies like spree, skittles, gummies and such, and some pre-packaged tuna and chicken with crackers and season packs.  I think they will be happy even if I do not get them little debbies, LOL.  I am going to stop and get a dfew boxes of the drink mixes though since they specifically asked for it.

Tonight I am going to tape up lids and boxes and then bag each box seperatley to bring into work tomorrow for the others who are getting stuff so we can put them together there, then off to the post office!!!

I hope Jellybean does not have a heart attack when he sees all of it!

[Venus193]

I wouldn't worry about it; it's all to a good cause.

I have no idea how much I've spent in the last month but I've sent 18 boxes so far, with 5 or 6 more to go this week.  I spent $57 this afternoon in my client's company store on drink mix, instant soup, and bar soap (8 packs of 8 bars each, which gets heavy).  I think I'm going to just bring some empty boxes to the office early and bring a couple of prepared boxes to the post office near work at lunch time.

One of the cheapy stores in my area has microwavable Progresso minetrone soups for $1, which is a serious discount.  That's the sort of thing to put into a flat-rate box, but I have no more room for anything in my apt at the moment.  And to think this all started because I wanted to clear out stacks of books....