With the holidays rapidly approaching, for many it brings to mind our American fighting men and women who are stationed far from home. While we all wish they could be home for Christmas, the reality is that our nation is embroiled in a War and our service men and women are serving proudly while we, at home, enjoy the fruits of liberty. It is very easy to forget about their heroic service while we go about safely transporting our children to and from soccer practice with little regard to doing so without the threat of death.
Many things we take for granted each and every day are the very things that our service members miss the most. While browsing through the profiles on www.anysoldier.com, a site that connects soldiers who post wish list items for them or their unit, with Americans who want to support the troops, it became apparent that what our troops appreciate most is greetings from home. They don’t care if you know them from Adam or Eve! They just want to feel connected to home. You don’t need to know a service member personally to send a package. Simply log onto www.anysoldier.com and view profiles. You can scroll through and pick a person or unit and send them a nice care package of things they need or want from home.
Other than letters from home, DVDs, Magazines and Books were frequently requested by soldiers. They want a taste of home! With Christmas coming soon, many are requesting holiday themed DVDs. The ladies, in particular, who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan sorely miss gossip magazines like People and US magazine. These items are considered “media mail” by the United States post office and can be shipped much cheaper than regular first class mail. So even if your own holiday budget is tight, save up your magazines and ship them to a unit. Don’t forget, you pay postage only to an APO (Army Post Office) or FPO (Fleet Post Office) in either New York or San Francisco. That means, you pay only to ship to either the East or West Coast, regardless of where you live. You do not pay horrendous shipping rates to a foreign country, so don’t let the fear of high shipping deter you from mailing your magazines to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan.
In addition to media, our service members crave food. Many have access to a microwave in their living quarters. Mess Hall food may have its charm, but microwaveable food products are much appreciated. Food items you should not ship are home made goodies (unless you personally know the soldier, because due to safety reasons, our soldiers are instructed to throw away any home made goodies unless they know the person who made it), chocolate because it melts, and any other food that would not survive a long journey and extreme heat conditions. Licorice, the rope kind, travels quite well according to most soldiers, as do hard candies. Granola and breakfast bars and individually wrapped flavored water products are also highly requested items.
Toiletry items are also requested, but mainly it is the service women requesting these items. Please remember that it is never a good idea to ship food and toiletry items together. Most of us would get quite annoyed if our super market checker put our Zest soap next to our candy bar when packing our groceries, even for the 10 minute drive home. Imagine getting a box of cookies that tasted like deodorant because the two items spent two weeks nestled snugly against each other in a box? Scented items and toiletry items should be shipped separate of food.
While food may nourish our soldiers, please do not forget our soldiers’ spiritual needs. For Catholics serving in Iraq, many request St. Christopher medals, rosary beads, and other Catholic items such as Prayer cards. With Advent coming, a nice extra for a care package would be an Advent Calendar to help your soldier count down to Christmas.
There are many ways to help our fighting men and women feel connected to us and sending a care package from home, even if from a complete stranger, will brighten their day. I encourage all to visit www.anysoldier.com and browse the list of soldiers asking for items. You will be humbled as you read their posts asking for the items we take for granted. Hopefully, you will be moved to action and adopt a soldier today.
