Troops in the Middle East, Part 2

Finished the last 2 boxes today..and got them sent.

Whew......glad that is finished for this month..

This message was edited Dec 11, 2004 9:36 AM

I'm having major family problems.I will have to back out on sending the 3 soldiers anything. Someone found my Step Sister dead yesterday on her lawn.She died of an Aneurism,pending Autopsy.Chelly was only 36.I have to use my Christmas money to go to her fureral in West Virginia.I am truely sorry I can't finish this.I can write them later on but have no money now for presents.Thank-you,Jody

JodyC - Bless your heart - we are so sorry to hear of this tragedy.

Could someone give me the names of soldiers she has? We will work on boxes for them this weekend.

Dea

Dea - look at the list, they are about half way down at the top of this thread.

Dea...they are:

TSGT Isaacs
SSGT Quinley
A1C Finn (F)


Thanks you so much...I can't do any more than the 3 I have sent out...but wish I could. If you can't do all three..post and someone will take up the slack.

JodyC...We will be praying for you and the family. Jo

jody...............our prayers are with you....so sorry to hear of your loss...

Deann

Since DH spent 20 yrs in the Navy he was a great help for Kendall and I to know what to send. We had so much fun looking around and packing boxes. We sent many of the same things as everyone else has mentioned here. Playing cards, dice, magazines, beef jerkey being among them. We also sent nerf darts with self-sticking ends. LOL I also sent a seperate box to SSgt Brenhuber for New Year's Eve.......Loaded with enough for all the men and women to celebrate the New Year!!!! I had to grab a magazine for Brenhuber with Adrian Peterson on the front! Let's hope he's a college football fan! LOL

Jody, our prayers are with you and your family! Please know we're thinking of you!

I don't wanna be a soldier 'hog' :)

I'm more than happy to take all three, but if anyone else wants in, post here please. If there are no other takers, I'll do the 3 but won't be able to get them out til Monday.

Don't want anybody left out :)

Mailed the 5 boxes this a:m - one was 40 lbs!!! DH is out $112, but we had 100 baggies of gifts in that one.
The great nieces brought over their letters, cookies and pictures last night, and were thrilled to see all the things in their boxes. So --- I have christmas done for five of my families. and we ALL feel wonderful about it!
Thanks for all this thread has meant to everyone!

Got mine out yesterday! Had to mail two boxes cus I got carried away at Walmart! Had a good time, though!

Pretty much sent what all ya'll did, multiple packs of slimjims, jerky, candy (lots of candy!), soap bubbles, crossword books, pens, pencils, some of my cards (Barefoot Butterfly) so they can write home, disposable razors, lip balm (different flavors!), moisture cream, hot sauce, etc. Oh yeh, also thru in a large rubber snake. That should make some Inspector's day, eh? (And also give the troops something to tease each other with!)

A great project folks! Glad we all did this!

Got mine out this a.m.! I needed 2 boxes to fit everything in. Also sent a box out to my BIL who is stationed there as well. ..he could use the cheering up!

Packed the box full! Good thing for flat rate boxes! LOL..all of my boxes went over the price I would have paid.

Sent pretty much the same as ya'll did. Only added some home made pralines. Also sent a half of box of beanie babies for the children there. This was so much fun even though it took me 3 post offices to get them off! Small town USA here, two of the Post Offices closed right before I got there, one at 10:30 and the other at 11:00..Had to travel to the next town. But finally, got it off! This was fun.

Dea...if no one picks the 3 names today...would you please take them? They need to get in the mail no later than Monday! Thanks a buncho...Jo

My box went out yesterday too. Boy, was it heavy! Thank goodness for the "flat rate". Hope this will bring some holiday cheer to our troops.

DH is at Sam'sClub now :) These 3 will have boxes too!

What a blessing this is!

Horseshoe - a rubber snake? LOL How great!

Can y'all imagine the joy you're sharing? I had to tell all of mine via letter about the stuff we talk about here on DG - like the fact that we wonder if zebra doo compost could enhance variegated plant growth :)

I can bet that we'll be having some new DG members here one day, folks that have been away from home and will now feel the caring of this site - y'all are AWESOME !!!

Thank you so much Dea,I was so worried about them.I had christmas lights and other goodies here to send them.I don't have the time or the extra money now for postage.Thank-you ((((Dea)))) for recueing me.God Bless you.
Thanks,Jody

No Jody - God Bless You and all your family during this time - we cannot even imagine. We're praying for you and Cheryl's family.

Peace and Grace to all, dea

This is such a heart warming site! Love & Hugs to All of you.....Jo

Add me to the list of those whose boxes went out yesterday! ;-) I saved lots of money by using the flat rate boxes, and it all went for MORE goodies! I packed, repacked, and packed again, getting every last thing in there. Even the postal clerk was amazed at the weight. LOL The trip to the post office went much easier than I thought, I filled out my customs forms online, and had them ready to go. (although I was convinced I had them all wrong, the clerk said they were just fine) He asked if I'd be doing this on a regular basis, when I said yes, he said, "Since it's such a good cause, I'll save you some money on printer ink and paper, here's a whole stack of customs forms for your future boxes!" I know the customs forms are free anyway, but I thought it was a really nice gesture on his part.
I've got to say this isn't only helping the soldiers. Over the years, I've become pretty cynical about the whole commercial aspect of Christmas. Lots of the so-called "good causes" aren't even legitimate anymore. Doing this has given me more "Christmas spirit" than I've had in years! This is truly a great idea!

Nik

Ditto for me Nik...Jo

Jody, I am so very sorry, was hoping for a miracle.
Dea, if you have not gotten A1c Finn. could I send her a box? I have some things available , and have plenty of time to re-pack for my niece..
We heard here that what we donated, had to stay stateside-I had not gotten a specific name-so the goodies will help someone here; but would like to help

I ended up with WAY too much stuff too, so I went to one of the websites someone recommended above, and just picked a couple of the new ones to send to. All of my boxes were heavy, it's amazing how much stuff you can squeeze in there! :-)

Hoping that the packages arrive before Christmas... I went through a few of the names on the site, and looked at some that were saying thanks for packages that were arriving. Some were within 2 weeks of the initial request, so hopefully the mail won't be TOO slow in getting over there.

If anyone else is wanting to "adopt" Please, hop over to the anysoldier website and pick one... or two :-)

I went shopping tonight and have put things in my box..it hasn't been sealed yet, so I can adjust it as needed..
Here is what I have:
Tea Bags
Soft Toilet Paper
Beef Jerky
Chili Cheese Corn Chips
Lil Debi Cakes
Hand Sanitizer
Eye Drops
Beanie babies
Hand Lotion
I was going to include a card introducing myself...will all those things be useful and wanted? I am at a loss of what to send. I don't want them to be useless...
Did I understand that the customs form can be filled out at home, by getting the form online? My DH has offered to help, and if I can fill out the forms to attach to the package, his help, will be to take the package to the post office, and mail it for me. He needs to send it priority right?

melvatoo, try to get one of those flat rate postage boxes from the post office. It costs $7.70 to mail it no matter how much it weighs.

The boxes I mailed all would have cost over $12 each to mail in a priority box. Even my postmistress was surprised at the savings.

The customs forms that I found online to fill out, insisted that I put a country that the package is going to, I tried to leave it blank, but..and it also insisted on a weight, so I guessed, as I don't know...if I get one of those $7.70 boxes, the weight doesn't matter, right?

8ftbed showed how to fill out that form earlier in this thread..I emailed it to you so you would not have to hunt for it.

Kris

All I had to put on that form was:

Name and address of the SENDER
Name and address of the SOLDIER
Check GIFT
Date and sign...

The Post office did the rest...

Don't bother insuring it...you'll never collect anyhow as you have to produce reciepts from day one!! JMHO....Jo

Marcia, that's great! I've got all the boxes ready - just not taped up yet :)

Your timing is great cuz DH talked to the Officer of the Day at Walter Reed last evening and there is an urgent request for phone cards. The wounded and there are lots and lots of amputees at Walter Reed can't make LD calls :(

DH was the most choked up I've ever seen last night thinking about those in the hospital that can't talk to their families. But the good news is that he's going to WR today to deliver a bunch of phone cards and we'll just take that extra box too :)

Dea...Thos soldiers are blessed to have you and your DH near by...Give your DH and BIG hug from me!! (He won't mind a hug from a very patriotic old lady will her??) Jo

I mailed my package out yesterday. I stopped at a different p.o. and had to reopen my package to show the postal clerk that the container of slim jims listed on the customs form didn't contain any pork products even though I had told her they didn't. Geez..... Oh well, I held up the line long enough to keep her busy for awhile.

Hugs delivered and DH sending them right back 'atcha :)

Carol, you're a real trooper :)

Shoot, I sent Slim Jims ans I never checked for pork products.

Plus I really goofed on one of my forms. I had totally forgotten that one box was all samples of creams with sunscreen. I wrote it had lots of things in it but no cream. Will the customs police come after me? I wonder if no mind is an acceptable defense. I actually didn't write all the stuff in the other boxes either, there was no room to list but a few. Am I in trouble? I used my real name also! LOL!

I broke mine down into categories and only listed the contents as Candy, Snackfood, Pens, Paper. (Didn't list the rubber snake.)

By the way, did ya'll check the box that says "return if undeliverable"? My postmaster said they would "abandon" it if non-deliverable and would probably 'give it away'.

Also noticed if you check the 'return' box they will charge you postage to return it. Wasn't sure about the best way to go.

Oh Shoot Shoe, I didn't know to check that. I will be in jail by then, so I bet I could really have used those boxes back! LOL

I didn't check the "return" box cus wasn't sure I wanted to pay the return postage. I was already paying the Priority Rate...we haven't gotten the flat rate boxes here yet. I ordered some though thru the postal website (25) for future use....they just didn't arrive in time (and the post office didn't have any either).

I didn't fill out the form for first box I sent. My postmistress did. She checked the return box, so I did on the others I sent too. (Pretty much copied how she did the first one). I did see that I would have to pay the return postage, but I figured I'd rather get it back to resend to someone else, instead of it laying in an abandoned parcel pile somewhere, leaving me thinking it made the trip when it didn't.

I did try to list everything I put in the boxes, but I got messed up on the quantities sometimes, and if I ran out of room in that little bitty box, I didn't write anymore. LOL

Shoe, I wouldn't have listed the rubber snake either. LOL

Our boxes went out yesterday. A1C Nagel and Lion each got 2 boxes. I put all the heavy things in the square flat rate priority, they weighed 12# each. The Post Office fellow was impressed. The other box weighed 6# or a total of 18#. per soldier. It ended up costing a dollar a #.
I put a couple of the disposable camera's and a padded envelop to mail it home. Plus each got a book of stamps. Thanks for the opportunity to do this.

Loretta

If undeliverable, you can also address to "Commander" or "Chaplain" at the same address.

In my 3 boxes to batallions I just wrote about the same thing: 35 candies, 25 cookies, 30 toilette articles -- the P.O. removed the custom forms and applied a sticker to them all. They had tons of other stuff, too - Taco Bell sauce, Beef jerky, sunglasses, cd's, videos. socks, -mags, books -- you name it! They just wanted to know if they had anything breakable or banned, and DH said "no". Not to worry -- if someone opens them, they will see all the stuff is good stuff.
The two going to Nesbitt's unit were smaller, but still said the same, only fewer.

Two boxes just went out to A1 Finn. The postal person (they know me on sight--wonder why?!) was Way impressed at the amount we had been able to stuff into those flat rate boxes. He was kidding me , that with the amount of tape I had on the boxes , she would never get them open.
I wrote-toys, toiletries, food. He seemed ok with that, because I announced-no alcohol, no pork, no glass, etc.
Had such fun shopping. We got her: pick-up stick/jacks set, chenielle toy set ,yoyo and stuffed toys for self and kids; dice game if determining who has KP needs help; lotion, shampoo, soap, eyewash, Blistex ,toothbrushes etc. Then tea, cocoa,candy, peanuts, jerky, gum, soup packets. Holiday scented little candles wrapped in Lots of very soft tissue, plus 2 rolls of soft TP and lots a zip-loc bags..
Got to the PO and remembered that I had not put in a couple of other things or the card with Daves mentioned with the photos of the animals. No way was I going to try to get that box opened and repacked!!!
I do hope that she gets it in time for the holiday. I know that it is coming quickly.

Hi All...

I just got an email from A1C Nesbitt who provided me with that list of names.

He sent this and said Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. I thought you may enjoy it.

thank you