My friend's son is a 21 year old Sergeant... Amazing! I taught him in First Grade.

What sort of things are you including in care packages? I saw another thread about sending 'silly string'.


Any other ideas for items that hold up well and that would fit well in one of the $8.10 Flat Rate Priority boxes... and would not be 'confiscated'? I'll be sending *one* of the smaller/taller boxes...



Thanks!


Edited to correct the spelling of Sergeant. Heh!

I'm not sure what they have access too, but when my DH went on deployments he always liked to have packets of hot sauce or seasonings(the food can get bland afterwhile), also, baby wipes(easy for them to clean personal items with), gum, candy, letters/pictures from home, sports or science magazines, or maybe crossword puzzle book.

Here is a long list I found:

The Best Items To Include In Military Care Packages:
Deoderant
Shower to Shower body powder
Jelly beans
Disposable camera
Rice Krispie treats
Altoids/mints
Beef jerky
Snack mixes
Sunflower seeds
Chewing gum
Nuts
Long-distance phone cards
Little Debbie's snacks
Ziploc bags
Coffee
Gatorade
Jaw breakers
Poker game
Playing cards
Dice
Music CD's
Footbag/hacky-sack
Toothbrushes & toothpaste
Inflatible pillow
Cookies in individual packages (Big bags often fill with dust if not eaten right away.)
Dominoes
Pasta and sauce
Canned food items
Spices, salt, pepper
Smoked oysters and sardines
Squeeze butter
Pringles chips
Individually-wrapped licorice
Microwave popcorn
Ramen noodles
Macaroni & cheese
Olives, pickles, peppers (Be sure to add lots of bubble wrap around these items.)
Cereal bars/granola bars
Microwave pasta that doesn't need refrigeration
Hot cocoa mix
Soup mix
M&M's
DVD's
Koozies to keep water bottles and cans cool
Newspapers
Magazines
AA batteries
D batteries
Air fresheners (...like stick-ups, Fabreeze.)
Canned air to blow dust out of electronics
Stress relief squeeze balls
Sewing kit
Lysol wipes/hand & face wipes
Poker chips
Board games
Shoe laces for gym shoes and boots
Brown t-shirts
Boot socks
Underwear
Hand warmers
Inflatable seat cushions
Razors
Ink pens
Word Puzzle books
Icy/hot patches
Air activated heat wraps for sore muscles
Foot spa
Microwaveable plates, bowls, paper plates
Foot powder
Vitamins
Paperback books

My mom's American Legion Post is filling shoeboxes with stuff and sending them to the troops. Instead of exchanging gifts this year we are donating to this project.

My BIL was in Afganistan with the Marines and they liked Girl Scout Cookies, vienna sausages (yuck!), baby wipes, razors, books, hard candy (they give these to the kids over there), toothbrushes, chocolate, the "to go" Crystal Lite type water flavorings that you put in a single size bottle of water, notepads to write home on and keep journals.

Thats all I can remember at the moment.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

The Girl Scout cookie sale will be starting soon. For those of you who choose to buy them, the Girl Scouts will happily take orders for the soldiers. Tell the Scout you would like to send a box to the soldiers, the girls collect the payment from you, and the Troop tallies the total of Soldier Orders to send.

You cannot choose which cookies to send, as the military is very strict about it. The Girl Scouts organization prepare the cookies the military approves (i.e. no chocolate, since it will melt!), and the packing and shipping process is supervised by the military from the warehouse.

We had a huge amount of success with this part of the sale last year, and are hoping to top it this year!

I am sending boxes to my son's best friend in Afghanistan.
They want and need foot powder (Gold Bond is the favorite)
snacks that won't melt (licorice, beef jerky, etc)
reading materials (magazines preferred, no porn but I send Maxim and FHM etc)
DVDs (they LOVE them and pass them around and you can record some yourself)
Deodorant, chapstick
Baggies
Packs of chewing gum

I send anything I think he would like or the guys and girls would get a kick out of. I recently sent a "holiday" feast complete with canned Spam turkey, olives, corn, candied yams, potatoes, gravy, etc

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

This is an APO/AE address so it is domestic. You can go to your Post Office and pick up a FREE Flat Rate Box. It costs $8.10 no matter what it weighs and it goes Priority Mail. For about one dollar extra you can get delivery confirmation.

And on behalf of my friend and all the other men and women in the military I have to say THANKS. Even if they are rich and getting lots of stuff from home it means so much to them that we care enough to do this.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Wow. Totally different here. We just finished our cookie sale, I am the cookie mom. We don't do anything like that. The troop has nothing to do with anyone sending their cookies over seas. Never heard anything about it in 4 years. We donate to Harvesters if people want to donate their cookies.

Our troop did it last year on our own and our family did it on our own. And, my BIL specifically requested chocolate. He said something about keeps them warm...

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I sent our box out last week. We had:

Batteries
Ramen noodles
Beef jerky
Sports Illustrated, Time, Good Housekeeping, & Star magazines
DVD movie my son picked out
Lotion
Knitted stocking hats
Toothpaste and brushes
Deoderant (2 womens and 2 mens)
Pringles
Licorice
A small little tree that had tons of tiny ornaments on it (no lights)
Calling card from the PO
Baby wipes
Chapstick
and 2 cd players with headphones

This box was a combination of my family and my parents.

Wow! There are some great ideas on here! Thanks to all who took the time to respond.

Here are some more suggestions:
Travel games
dominoes
Puzzels
cards
books
Movies
Mouthwash
Toothpaste
Fem. hygiene products
Razors
Shaving gel
Comic books
flash lights
Crossword puzzle books
Jolly Ranchers
Magazines - Newsweek, Time
Coffee
snack pack pudding
Microwave popcorn
peanuts
pretzels

my grandson just got back from Iraq!
homemade cookies aea big hit!I sealedthem in single layers in my food savor, he said they were warn like fresh made when he got them!
chocolate (the individuly wrappped ones! they don't care if it melys they squeeze it out like tooth paste)
flea collars!!! yes the put them on thier boots and bed posts to keep out sand fleas
m&ms were a big hit!
canned fruit with the pull tops
sox in some areas washing clothes and thier bodies doesn't happen very often and he said you rot right through a pair of sox in a week! I bought white ones in bundles of 10 pairs for under $10 at walmart!

letters and moto mail!
many guys and gals get nothing so i always sent lots to share!
you can reallycram those flat rate boxes, I averaged 15 pounds per box!
send no pork products

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everytime I close my eyes I see the nails, I hear the cries! He did not keep Himself away! He walked a mile in my shoes........

My Grandson just got back from his second tour of Iraq last month. We sent him and his friends lots of boxes. They wanted white socks (crew length) and gel insoles. Most other items have already been posted. They are happy with whatever you send. They share with each other.

I just asked my husband, who is in the Army, and he said that he would check on this to see what is available over there and to see what a REAL need is.

__________________
John 14:1
GO GATORS!!
GO BEARS!!
Check out my pictures!! Just click below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gotjenks/

I think it is great you are sending packages. But I am curious as to who you think is rich. Military families? Far from it!

__________________
Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say. This has been so helpful... I'll print it all out tomorrow and take to the store. Thank goodness my husband's work decided to get in on it too. It was starting to cost more than what I had spent on my nieces and nephews! Oops.

Tessa, my friend is rich and non-military. Her son that I am sending to will share. He's such a good guy. Ever since he was a little boy... very caring!

This is what my husband said when he asked several men who have just returned.

"I asked some people about this and what I was thinking is true. Being a
mature theater of operations the soldiers have plenty of access to snacks and
things from the shoppette. Some suggestions were books, movie and music
cds, especially recordings of current tv shows. "

__________________
John 14:1
GO GATORS!!
GO BEARS!!
Check out my pictures!! Just click below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gotjenks/

Silly String.
sure enough, it's a toy, but it's also a life saver.
Tonight's TV news says they spray it in a doorway area before entering to see if there are any bomb trip wires that they otherwise can't see.
I don't know if the military will let you actually send any but it was on TV that the soldiers sure appreciate having it.

I was going to send some silly string but one of the lists that I saw said no aerosol cans so I'm not sure if I should send this or keep it to give to my brother in his Christmas stocking. Hmmm.

Well they do not check every single package only random ones and I heard on the radio a Mom of someone over there organized a mailing of many cans. Are they all really "aerosol" or maybe the new kind of spray?

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.