I have recently been contacted by some great people at Soldier’s Angels and they encouraged me to pass along a few things.
Another wonderful organization I would like to mention is AnySoldier.com. I would have registered on there myself, but I do not meet the 4th requirement to register and that puts a great big smile on my face! I highly encourage you all to at least drop by and check out their services and assistance.
I also wanted to inform anyone interested that you can call the Post Office at 1-800-610-8734 and request the FREE Care Kit #4 for military overseas mailing. It contains 10 boxes, 10 “mili-pack” envelopes, tape and other materials for shipping and the kit is free of charge. The boxes cost a flat rate $8.95 for shipping. The Postal Service issued a Press Release on October 23rd, 2007 to promote early shipment of holiday packages to ensure delivery. I have received many packages from my mom who used this service many times to send packages to my brother and me.
There are many, many more groups and organizations that you can contact to offer donations, support or request information about deployed soldiers. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) have a great program called Operation Uplink that donates phone cards to deployed soldiers. I have used many of these cards to contact my family back home. I highly recommend considering the support of this program as nothing in this world can compare to hearing the broken, crackling voices of my children after a “bad day” at work.
I also want to mention the American Legion “Support the Troops” program. Their website has many resources and different ways to help support our service men and women.
The last support group I wanted to mention today is Tunes 4 the Troops. I contacted Tunes 4 the troops a couple months ago after our unit received a package of over 150 CDs and DVDs. I thanked them for their efforts and support. I received a lengthy reply and was thanked for my letter and my service. We have received MANY hours of enjoyment from this program.
These are only a few programs, but they have all personally affected me and my deployment. I can tell you that whatever you can do to support the men and women of our armed services is greatly appreciated. I could never promote one group or organization as a favorite over another as the devotion and dedication of the volunteers and staff is evident in all of them.
If you don’t have money, resources or time to support our deployed troops, something as inexpensive as a handshake, nod or thank you is invaluable.