Mimisharon wrote "As the mother of a soldier serving "over there" I can assure you that the men appreciate ANY and ALL signs of support from home!"

Is there any reason we could not get together and support the soldiers that are loved in this group? If anyone is wanting to send cookies and stuff over there, we could send them to the sons, husbands, etc., of our beloved group, and still sew quilts and such for all the other sites mentioned. All for one and one for all!

that's a beautiful and extremely thoughtful idea.

use a Private Message to contact the individual quilters who identify themselves as family of deployed military. Let them decide whether or not to share his/her mailing address. Or whether to give you theirs so you can send things to be included in packages they are sending.

i would discourage any other method. there is at least one person here who sent a very negative and hurtful PM to a soldier's mom on this board. we don't want to give her or anybody else the opportunity to send hate directly to the soldiers.

let the Love flow ...

:P

Anyone wanting to send things to my son's unit can PM me, I'll share the address. I just want to be sure there's no 'hate mail' going over there.

Jim's Mom,
Sharon

I cannot imagine who would want to send hate mail like that. They must not be a real human being. Let the rest of us make up for that show of very bad manners. I'm starting to get a package together today, and I challenge all of you to do the same :!: .

I am ready, just let me know details.

Would it be a good idea also to ask the family what it is each soldier over there would really like in a care package and what to send. Cookies are great, and I am sure appreciated but if each person knew what they would really like and need, that too could be included in the package. Think? If not please disregard..

Rita

It would be good to know what to send. If any one has suggestions, please post them here. If anyone has a particular soldier that they want to "adopt", then they can contact the family member and ask specificaly what to gather. Also, I think postage is very expensive, so please plan on shouldering that expense, instead of giving that to the family. They probably already have a big postage expense of their own. This is going to be a FEEL GOOOOOD project! :D

My nephew in Iraq asked for water flavorings, like kool-aid or lemonade. He said the water tasted bad. He also said snacks like candies, peanuts, and flavored seeds, like sesame and pumpkin seeds that they can carry around would be appreciated. I also sent him deo,body wash and razors. He really appreciated everything and so did his friends.

Absolutely a good idea. Family will know what the individual soldier has been asking for and needs most.

Before you send anything, though, we need to talk about things you are not allowed to send to soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. It's important to stick to the rules so nobody gets in trouble on either end. NOTHING THAT CONTAINS PORK OR PORK BY-PRODUCTS; NO ALCOHOL; NO TOBACCO; NOTHING CONTRARY TO THE ISLAMIC RELIGION. In regard to the religious restrictions - no matter how you feel about it - the best thing you can do for the soldier is to not include anything that could be interpreted as religious.

Refer to this US Post Office link for more information: http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aatroopmail.htm

They are always in need of really good insect repellant. (The stuff they get issued doesn't work very well.) Look in the hunting equipment department for the best stuff. Compare the ingredients and send the strongest stuff you can afford.

Everybody needs a teddy bear, don'tcha think? I sent a big boxful to a friend of mine in a Marine unit once. Just little stuffed animals I got at WalMart for under $1 each. They loved it! I made sure to always include a few in every box i sent from then on.

For the best ideas, check this link: http://anysoldier.com/
You'll get to see what soldiers tell us they need most and lots of good information that will help make the experience feel good for everybody.

There is a lady here in Eureka that makes up care packages to send to the soldiers. The name of the program is 'Socks for Soldiers'. This program started when she heard that the military men and women needed socks. Of course the boxes hold a lot more now. This program has evolved over the last few years.

My daughter (my son-in-law is in the army and they were stationed in Qatar at the time) asked me to send hard candies that could be carried in pockets for the soldiers to hand out to the kids. The men and women over there are very appreciative of anything that is sent to them.