Package Central
I receive a lot of packages. Most (98%) of them go straight to Soldiers.
Some come through my office and get redirected to the next name on the list for care packages–I’m trying to get every Soldier a package by the end of the deployment. (If not more than one–it is a long deployment.) Many of these packages come from various agencies on americasupportsyou.com. These organizations do a tremendous job at getting morale care packages out to Soldiers.
I only mention this to tell you that a big part of my life right now is giving out packages. There are days, however, that I get a big box of goodies to put out in our grab boxes–the stuff doesn’t last long. That was today. I love to do it. I love to be able to walk around, as I did today, and handout Girl-scout Cookies. I was able to get some brand new dominoes into a Soldiers hand. And, I was able to read a New York Times newspaper, date 11 July 2008–only 16 days ago!
My office now is filled with boxes set to go out to Soldiers tomorrow. I have empty boxes that once held girls scout cookies. And I have a good feeling that today, I, along with many helpful Americans, were able to lift the morale on a hot, dusty, and otherwise routine Sunday afternoon.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hi Chaplain Andrews,
I’m a friend of Mindy Scott’s and come to your blog via theirs. Our husbands were stationed together at Ft. Riley and shared a depoloyment there.
What a great goal and a reminder for those of us who are sitting comfortably at home that we can send a little love and make a difference in a big way. I belong to a group that is social in nature with a passion for community service. One of our service projects for this coming year is to “adopt” deployed soldiers. We would like to send care packages (with whatever is desired) and notes, if appropriate, on a semi-regular basis.
Can we send to you and rely on your kind delivery? If so, would you be willing to email me with desired goods, including special requests if you know of any. We have our first meeting in August and might even be able to send something in September. As always, a sincere thank you for your service. Yours is a special role which brings so much to both troops on the ground and families back home.
Blessings to you. Barbara
July 29th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Hello Chaplain Andrews,
As my son prepares to deploy a second time to Iraq I am thinking of gift boxes now. I know that even the last time my son was there, i asked about sending extras for those who do not get packages, he mentioned there were so many it was hard to make things go around. Is this what you are facing there too? I can’t imagine being there with no communication with family or friends. I sure would like to be able to make some differnce and encourage our soldiers.