Adopted A Soldier

[CT-Mike]

My wife, her co-workers and I "adopted" a soldier through a program my company (Large Fortune 500 Company) runs to support deployed family members of employees, and troops in general. Tyler is the son of a company employee at one of our southern locations. He is currently serving in Iraq defending our freedoms.

You can get a flat rate box free from the post office, and it costs $10.35 or so to mail, regardless of the weight.

Basically you send letters, T-shirts, music, movies, socks, chapstick, cookies, etc to help make their stay in the sandbox more bearable.

Here is a list of "most requested" items sent to me from the woman that coordinates the program:

In many locations, there is an abundance of toiletries. Please consider donating from the "most requested" items list here:
(see below for specifics on these most requested items)

* Snacks and non-perishable food items, particularly tuna kits, beef jerkey, canned fruit, dried fruit, nuts and other healthy snacks
* Undershirts (white, short sleeve)
* Socks (bootcut, white)
* Cigarettes, Copenhagen and Skoal
* Single-use cameras (disposable style)
* Pre-sweetened flavored beverage mixes
* Letters of support
(letters from you, from children, or from your business, office, school, or other organization in support of our troops)
* AT&T Global Pre-Paid Military Calling Cards
(calling cards to work in Iraq and Afghanistan must be these specific cards)


* Gum, Lifesavers, Mints (blister pack gum is best because of the intense heat)
* Fruit: individual serving size cans of fruit, dried fruit
(Note: Plastic fruit cups with the plastic seal are not recommended as they can open in transit; individual-size cans are preferred.)
* Nuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, trail mix
* Power bars, protein bars, nutritional bars
* Beef jerky, beef summer sausage (non-perishable; labeled USDA Beef)
* Single-serving bags of snacks, crackers, chips, snack mixes
* Pop Tarts, cereal bars, "milk & cereal" bars, granola bars
* Ramen Noodles, Cup-O-Noodles serving cups
* Ravioli and other canned ready-to-eat meals (canned or styrofoam single serving are best)
* Tuna lunch kits (includes foil pouch of tuna, crackers, and condiments in each single-serving kit)
* Canned sardines, smoked oysters
* Torengos® nacho-style chips and canned nacho cheese dip
* Jalepeno Velveeta® and crackers
* Taco Bell® Sauce Packets
* Seasoning salts, flavoring salts

* Coffee, coffee mixes, tea
* Hot cocoa mix
* Lemonade mix, Koolade mix, Tang, Iced Tea mix
* Gatorade mix (powdered only)
* Crystal Light (or other brand) "On The Go" flavor packets
(these come in a box of several sleeves of flavoring that can be added to a 16-20 oz. water bottle;)
* Sugar and creamer packets for coffee

* Hacky Sacks, Tennis Balls
* Deck of cards
* Hand-held games
* Gameboy Advance games
* Movie DVDs (new or used; original only)
* Music CDs (new or used; original only)

# Cotton socks
# Underwear and T-shirts
# Military-green cotton boot socks
(try military surplus stores)

* Disposable cameras
* Envelopes, paper, pens
* Small pads of paper
* Notebooks (a size they can keep in a pocket and keep dry)
* Drawing pads (small)
* Small, blank journals

* Batteries (AA are most requested, then AAA)
* Cigarettes, chew, cigars
* Tactical Duct tape: military green, tan or black
* Electrical tape
* Super glue
* 72" Bootlaces (brown or tan preferred)
* Leatherman All-in-One Tool (see photo)
* Sandwidh size, Quart-size and 1-gallon ziploc plastic bags
* Small travel pillow or inflatable pillows
* Disposable, instant hand warmers
(during the winter months only)

* Cotton socks, black, green, or white
* Boot liners/insoles
* Odor eaters for boots
* Lotrimin AF or Tinactin for athletes foot
(tubes of ointment or cream, or the bottle of drops; please do not send the aerosol spray type)
* Medicated Foot Powder, Medicated Foot Swabs
* Moleskin
(for pads on sore feet, you'll find it with Dr. Scholls type things at WalMart or drug stores)

* Sunblock
* Throat Lozenges
* Gum, Lifesavers, Mints
* Eye Drops (to relieve dry eye, not redness)
* Blistex, Chapstick, Carmex (in stick-tubes rather than tubs)
* Aspirin, Motrin, Tylenol, Pain Relievers (small containers)
* Saline spray/drops for sensitive nasal passages
* Q-tips
* Eyeglass wipes

* Baby wipes for personal hygiene (alcohol-free)
* Liquid body wash
(no pump-style dispensers)
* Liquid hand sanitizers
(no pump-style dispensers)
* Disposable hand sanitizing wipes

Toiletries are not in as high a demand as they once were; however, we do have units at forward operating bases that still need the toiletries listed below:

* Toothpaste (in hard-side tubes rather than traditional tubes)
* Toothbrushes
* Nail clippers
* Shampoo
* Deoderant
* Liquid bodywash soap, liquid anti-bacterial soap (liquid is easier to use than bar soap)
(no pump-style dispensers)
* Lotion
(no pump-style dispensers)
* Disposable razors
* ShaveMan™ Battery Powered Shaver
(About $5 at WalMart and other discount stores; see photo below and to the right)
Mach3 Razors and replacement blades
* Kleenex (travel-size packets)

Maybe some of our currently deployed members can add to this list, prioritizing what items are most important to the troops.

I know times are tough, but if you are financially able I highly recommend that you show your appreciation of our troops, their hard-work and sacrifice. If your company does not have a similar program, and you can't find a program in your community, I can put you in touch with the woman who runs ours.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[buckeye .45]

Hey Mike,
Thanks for doin that, I'm sure he will appreciate. I have a pretty strong support group back home includind many more people than just my family, and it does make life better over here gettng good stuff.

As far as things to send, some of the top choices for me were: drink mix (hawaiin punch, gatorade, whatever), chap stick, socks, razor blades, Copenhagen (if they have it in the px here it is crappy stuff they sell in prisons, if you don't object to buying such things see if your soldier uses tobacco), books/magazines (Maxim or FHM are usually a safe bet if you don't know which one to get), beef jerky, blistex.

I've been here for both the summer and winter, so if you have questions feel free to ask. Also, maybe most importantly, a nice letter can make a bad day a bit better over here sometimes.

[boricua]

Thank you CT-Mike for the info. This is a very well appreciated gesture by all of our deployed troops. Care packages were a great morale booster for my soldiers and I during Desert Storm.

[QKShooter]

Good Thread CT-Mike. I placed a "sticky" on it.



Copenhagen and Skoal
Note: Valuable swap/trade items regardless if a soldier uses tobacco personally or not. Just FYI.

[buckeye .45]

Copenhagen and Skoal
Note: Valuable swap/trade items regardless if a soldier uses tobacco personally or not. Just FYI.

How very true, all my comrades know that I'll give them one heck of a deal if they have stateside Copenhagen long-cut.

Also, if you go to like wal-mart or bestbuy and they have some decent movies in like their $5 bin on dvd, new media for entertainment is always cool.

[dukalmighty]

Great Info ,I could see a soldier that really has no family to speak of getting a care package that would help him get thru his deployment knowing he was really appreciated.If anybody knows a soldier that is an orphan etc. that has no family support overseas please IM me his info I would like to contribute

[Paco]

Do you still have to know the exact name of a Soldier to get something over there, or can you just take it to the PO and say "send it to the sandbox" and it'll get there? Do you take the box to the USO?

[CT-Mike]

Paco,

PM sent.

[CT-Mike]

dukal,

PM sent.

[CT-Mike]

For those that are interested in adopting a soldier, send me a PM and I can get you in touch with the lady that coordinates the program through my company.

Alternatively, I would think you could get in touch with the Chaplain's office of your nearest Army/Marine base (or any base) and get something going through them.

Show our troops that you appreciate their hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.

Thanks,

Mike

[QKShooter]

Curious Question

Is there any way to find out if there are soldiers serving that do not have any close family members at all back here in the U.S.

[cuban11182]

I can tell you this. I was deployed for a year and recently returned and the "care" packages were very nice to get when you get in from a long patrol.

[A1C Lickey]

Unfortunately QK, not really. What we did, once we made it to Iraq, I sent my wife a list of all the kids without family or really anyone back home and she gave those names to base orgs (Top Three, Family Readiness Center, etc...)that could send out care packages.

I know we've got a few members deployed now, if they could give us the names of guys without family/friends back home I'm sure we could take care of them.

[SIGguy229]

I'll also add:

iTunes gift cards
CR123A batteries

[buckeye .45]

Curious Question

Is there any way to find out if there are soldiers serving that do not have any close family members at all back here in the U.S.

A unit's Chaplain would probably be able to help there. Also AnySoldier.com has service members you can send stuff to, and a lot of time a unit will just set up one account for the whole group.


I go back stateside in under two weeks, so I don't have anyone in my unit that needs care packages right now.