Care Packages From Home

[Living4Him03]

A friend of mine and I have a good friend who is serving his country out in Iraq. He and the soldiers he is responsible for have been having a rough time lately (he recently emailed us). I was wondering, besides prayer, what are good things to send to soldiers? I heard on the news one time that sending care packages slows things down over there so that it takes more time for them to get the mail that is more important. Is that true? We want to send him and the soldiers he is with some candy and pictures, stuff like that, but we aren't sure what else would really be helpful or cheer them up. If anyone has suggestions let me know!

Thanks! God bless !

 

[daveleau]

unscented baby wipes
deodorant
hard candy
gum
small bottles of hand sanitizer
devotionals
small sized Bibles (especially beige)
beef jerky
excerpts from sports pages of newspaper


DO NOT send:
alcohol of any kind
anything that has women on it that might be seen as risqué by the Arabs living there

 

[Living4Him03]

THanks! That helps! I am trying to find a list of items that cannot be sent so I can make sure I don't send anything that they will not be able to have or that will cause them not to get the package. Anyone know where I could find such a list?

 

[WarSong]

unscented baby wipes
deodorant
hard candy
gum
small bottles of hand sanitizer
devotionals
small sized Bibles (especially beige)
beef jerky
excerpts from sports pages of newspaper


DO NOT send:
alcohol of any kind
anything that has women on it that might be seen as risqué by the Arabs living there

Darn good list. One thing I liked getting was Tang orange mix I could mix in with my water

Maybe batteries as well. We would listen to CD players waiting for our jets to come back.

And of course, knowing you support them means a lot.

 

[Living4Him03]

Thanks guys! I think I have a good list of things to purchase. If anyone has any other tips or if you guys think of something else, let me know. I think it's sad that our country right now is not backing our servicemen and women as much as we should be. They sacrifice SO much...their families sacrifice SO much and yet we have people making movies like Fahrenheit 9/11 instead of backing our troops. So, I want to do something to let at least the guys in my friend's platoon that they are thought of, prayed for, and that we are in support of them and appreciate what they are doing for us. Thank you so much to all of you who are currently serving in the military or have served. There are some of us who do really appreciate the sacrifices you make each day for your country.

 

[MNprincess]

Hey hey. My brother loved getting some cheap cologne stuff, while he was in Iraq. I forgot what brand it was... maybe BOD or something? Anyway, all of his friends were using it. hehe. Frills? sure, but they deserve it. *and he's not a big cologne guy, but they loved the not-just-soap smell* and yeah, definitely batteries as said before. Also, I know SPF lipbalm was appreciated, but my brother and friends ended up getting a lot of that through care packages from churches, so I'm not sure if your friend already has a lot. I guess this doesn't REALLY help, but it looks like a good list was given to you before! Now I should do this for my friends over there, now that I don't have to spoil my bro. He's back safe and sound and had wonderful pictures and stories to share. God bless you and your friend over there.

 

[Living4Him03]

Thanks again for the tips everyone! I asked him in an email what kind of things he needs or is missing from home ...like candy, soda, or along those lines. I think he uses cool water aftershave or cologne so I could send some of that. He's a very independent guy and isn't all into frilly stuff, so that's why I asked him what he's needing/wanting. I'm afraid he'll be too humble to ask for stuff though. Oh well I know it doesn't matter, but it kind of does, because if I were over there and my family or friends sent me my favorite stuff I would feel even more loved and cared for.

 

[Living4Him03]

Well, I bought the stuff for the care package:

starburst, sour patch candy, nerd licorce rope, gum, wet ones packets, clorox wipes, travel febreeze, travel shampoo, deoderant, lotion, chapstick, mini fan, some of those oral-b brush ups, devotional book, small cans of pringles, toothpaste, batteries, nerf football, nerf darts, popcorn, velco catch game, and playing cards. I think that's all! I may add a phone card in there if I get the chance.

As an FYI, if you are sending packages to the troops, a good place to look for items you can send is the dollar store (here there is a good one called Dollar Tree). They have many of the items on most of the lists I've found and are cheap!

 

[white dove]

I actually HAVE a 'list o' things to send' but I don't have it w/ me right now I'll have to make sure to remember to post it at a later date though *puts sticky note up* But, I DO have a question for those in the military. I'd heard that, other than pornographic materials, bibles nor religious things of any kind were not allowed over there...is that true? 'Cause I heard it from military personel (sp?). It was said b/c we (americans) are not to go against THEIR beliefs (like, offend them, b/c the dominant religion is islam). True or not?

 

[Living4Him03]

You actually can send religious materials, just not enough that could be passed out to a whole bunch of people. It has to be for individual use only. It can contradict Islamic faith. USPS, the Postal Bulletin, and military.com have the restrictions on what you can and can't send to service members and to the specific APO zip code or other military zipe code.

 

[Singing4God8692]

I was just surfing through and saw this, so I thought I'd post. My best friend in currently in his 2nd tour of Iraq (USAF, EOD) and I sent him and the guys 55lbs of stuff recently. What I sent:

-A LOT of chips. Doritos, etc. (PACK THEM WELL. The Pringles were casualties of the flight, but the bag of pretzels that I wrapped in bubble wrap made it.)
-EasyMac
-CheeseNips
-Goldfish
-Gum
-Salsa and cheese dip
-About 8 canisters of drink mix (Kool-Aid and Gatorade)
-Beef Jerkey
-Cookies
-Sunflower seeds
-Pretzels

-Hand sanitizer
-Sanitizing wipes
-Shampoo (I vetoed the conditioner idea since... well, they don't have hair to condition. lol. I asked him once why he even had conditioner and he said, "to keep the hair on my legs soft.")
-Sunscreen

-6 Nerf footballs
-Frisbee
-2 card games
-Water balloons

And a lot of other stuff I can't even remember. So, he sent this e-mail when he got all 3 boxes (two of them were karaoke machine boxes that I used) :

"...Much of the stuff has been opened. I must say though that the Pringles are a casualty of the long trip. They're crushed. But the pretzel sticks made it intact. Go figure... Oh and the guys were disappointed that we didn't actually get a karaoke machine. But the nerf balls are currently being thrown at my head. And we've eaten some of the doritos (shock of shocks) and the easy mac has been broken out. The salsa and salsa con queso is awesome....... but this is Iraq and not Mexico, so finding non-stale tortilla chips will be interesting. But we're on the case, so no worries."

So what did I do? I sent him more stuff! (It's just fun, now.) Lots of non-stale tortilla chips (packed extremely well and me praying the whole time that they got there safely), and... a karaoke machine. Yes. I did. A little bitty one that I found. It was funny. And lots more dip. Because less than a week after I sent the first load, I asked what they had left and he said "a box of Cheese Nips and some drink mix." He tried to tell me it would last forever but I knew better. At least 9 hungry Airmen can eat a lot.

Send something for them to play with! They loved the footballs.

"It's pretty hot around here. We started to put the drink powder into our water bottles. Not knowing how much goes into a bottle measured in metrics, we guestimated. Yeah, can you say sugar high???? it was hilarious. We were pingin for the better part of an hour.

The nerf balls are pretty popular still. I gave one to a friend down at
another shop. She needed it. I'm not too sure what we are gonna do with the water balloons. We have a couple ideas."

 

[Living4Him03]

That's awesome! Sounds like you are a good friend to have!

I did send some toys...I sent cards, nerf footballs, a nerf dart gun toy, and a velcro catch toy thing. I think he and his guys will have fun with it.

I also sent a TON of candy...some trial size toiletries stuff, and other snacks. Mine only weighed 9 pounds...which i thought was odd seeing as how there was a lot of stuff...oh well. I also got him some skittles gum which I was sooooo tempted to try because it looked good lol. I just went around Wal-Mart, Target, and the Dollar store looking for cool stuff to get him...I even put in a mini fan for him to use since it's so hot there. Yah conditioner is pointless...I got him the trial size 2 in one type shampoos. I also got him some oral B brush ups. You just take out this little padded thing that fits on your finger and rub it on your teeth then toss it. I thought he could carry them in one of his many pockets so if he gets to feeling icky and doesnt have time to brush his teeth or doesnt feel like it he could just use those. It was so much more fun than buying myself stuff though.

 

[Singing4God8692]

Haha. Cool. They'll definitely use it all.

Yeah, I ORIGINALLY went into the grocery store to buy him some EasyMac, because he could live on that. It just kind of... evolved. Just a little bit We got a lot there, then went to Wal-Mart.

Since it gets expensive, I think we're going have a special collection in church for them. My church has only met my friend once but they've been praying for him since I've known him (before he was a Christian), and they'd be more than happy to donate to care packages for him and the guys. The main mission being showing God's love to them all.

 

[Living4Him03]

I just noticed that in WarSong's profile picture there is a bullet heading towards him. It looks like it's just floating in the air. What's the story behind that??

 

[white dove]

Mmmkay, THE list I was talking about earlier:

* starbucks, peets or folgers ground coffee (instant or ground)
* kool-Aid (pre-sweetened)
* gatorade (mix)
* tuna creations (tuna packages that already have all the mayo and condiments mixed in)
* beef jerky, slim jims
* top ramen (hehe..ramen...)
* trail mix
* protein bars
* microwave popcorn, pringles chips
* cereal (individual serving sizes), cereal bars
* pop-Tarts
* sugar and spices (plastic container or packaged; obviously no glass containers)
* candy (no chocolate or sticky kinds), gum, gum, gum, breath mints & oh yeah, GUM

personal hygiene stuff:

* baby wipes, shaving cream, razors
* nail clippers, baby/foot powder (um...and Gold bond for the fellahs ), antibacterial hand sanitizer, deoderant (gel or spray only)
* bug spray (avon skin-so-soft preferred)
* pipe cleaners (for cleaning weapons)
* q-tips, chapstick, SUNSCREEN
* eye drops
* socks (white)

For women:

* feminine hygiene products (tampons, panty-liners, etc)
* hair ties/bands
* emery boards

Other stuff:

* hand-held games, board/travel games, cards
* magazines (tasteful ones)
* puzzle/word game books, comic books, novels, etc
* STATIONARY, pens, pencils (pencil sharpener), stamps
* squirt guns, frisbees, hacky sacks, yo-yo's (??)
* disposable cameras
* PRE-PAID calling CARDS
* DVD's!!!!!
* hand-held, battery-operated fans (w/ plastic or foam blades only), batteries
* neck cooler
* snack, pint & gallon-sized ziploc baggies

Also, please remember that the soldier's whole 'lives' are being carried on their backs...at the least, is 50 lbs, so it's important to remember not to get too carried away w/ personal effects (in regard to both quantity and size of the gifts being given).
God bless!!

 

[Living4Him03]

Thanks! I already sent the first care package but will probably send another one later on. That's a good list!

 

[Mistyfogg]

This thread reminded me of what to put in care packages. I almost forgot! Now I have to refresh my memory and gear up to send some stuff to my hubby when he leaves in a month.

I remembered that he loved care packages. All of the people over there would share with everyone what they had gotten, so I tried to make sure I sent lots of everything. I remember some of his favorites were hard candies, drink mix (he got sick of drinking just water the whole time), toilet paper (because they don't have high quality tp out there), any sort of cheesy toy (I went down the cheap toy aisle...they get very bored out there during down time and if they have little toy planes to throw at each other or racquetballs, it helps pass the time), newspapers and magazines (especially sports magazines so he can be updated on the sports standings and stories). The most important thing are things to remind them of home and how much you support them. I used to take pictures of myself to send to my hubby, print out pages of jokes, and burn him cds. When he was there during the war, we couldn't talk on the phone, so I sent him a voice recorder and tapes and we could send little taped messages back and forth. Servicepeople don't really have that problem anymore because they can make phone calls and/or e-mail more often. But the next time he goes out, I am still going to send him the tapes because he said he used to listen to them with headphones everynight when he was falling asleep.

He never used baby wipes, but lots of people sent those. I made the mistake of sending chocolate one time (it melted but he said he ate it anyway). My mom bought one of those vacuum sealer devices so she could vacuum seal her cookies or homemade jerky to send and it usually held up pretty well.

But honestly, they love to get packages. I always enjoyed putting the time and effort into a package. I used to send one about every 2 or 3 weeks. And I would always try and include things for some of my hubby's single friends. Everyone out there needs a little cheering up.

 

[lilray]

My brother is leaving this weekend. This is a great thread! I had no idea and probably wouldn't have thought of a lot of this stuff.

How often should I send a care package?

 

[Living4Him03]

I had a list of sites that talk about care packages and what you can send. YOu'll need his APO address or whatever it happens to be for his branch. Most sites online tell you what you can and can't send him. It takes about a month to arrive, but depends on where he is at. I'd say once a month is probably good if you send a big care package. I'll look for those sites and post the links here so that you will know what you can and can't send and also some other tips. The post office website also has some good info.

 

[lilray]

It takes a month to get there!??! Wow... that's a long time.