Never Too Much Peanut Butter

     Today was my day to send another care package to my adopted soldier in Afghanistan.  Just a little over 2 months until he comes home (he's from Kentucky), and I'm sure he's counting the days.  I know that he really loves peanut butter and claims that you can never have too much of it, so I keep sending him jars!  I also sent him some powdered drink mixes and a variety of snacks to enjoy.  

     While I don't have any penetrating insights to share, as I've sent him multiple packages throughout the year, I continue to enjoy supporting him and I know how much it means to our troops to receive packages from home.  Whether you've adopted a soldier or not, you can still send a package to a unit.  There are a number of different websites that facilitate doing this, Soldiers' Angels being just one of them.

Never Too Much Peanut Butter

     Today was my day to send a care package to my adopted soldier in Afghanistan.  You may remember that in "adopting" him, I committed to sending a care package at least once each month.  Whenever I ask him what he'd like, he reminds me that he could "never have too much peanut butter."  So peanut butter (and a  few other things) it is!

     I went to the store yesterday to pick up various items for the care package.  I bought more peanut butter, some granola bars, a box of Twix candy bars, a large container of powdered lemonade mix, and a few other snacks.  This morning I packed it all into a box, enclosed a note, and headed to the post office to ship it out.  Amazingly, the packages usually seem to arrive at his base within a week, so he should have it by early next week.

     As I was getting ready to send it off, I was thinking about how cool this "adopt a soldier" program is.  It's been six months now that we've been corresponding and I feel like we've become good friends, even though we've never met and were randomly matched as pen pals.  I've invited him to visit and go to an Eagles' game with me this fall when his deployment is over (just under 90 days to go!).  He's a great young man totally dedicated to serving others. 

     I know it means a lot of our soldiers serving overseas when they hear from people at home, and when they know that we support their efforts.  If anyone is interested in adopting your own soldier, I'd encourage you to check out the Soldiers' Angels website.

Time for a Care Package

     It had been a little over a month since I last sent a care package to my adopted soldier in Afghanistan so I figured today would be a good day to put one together.  When we exchanged e-mails last week I had asked him if there was anything in particular he wanted.  Peanut butter was his main request!

     Taking a trip to Target, I bought some peanut butter, some powdered drink mix (one of his requests from last time), some breakfast bars and granola bars, and some trail mix.  I packed them all in a box, enclosed a personal note, and got them to the post office before they closed for the evening.  If it works like last time, he should get them sometime next week.

     In his last e-mail, he included some pictures from his recent leave when he got to be back home with his fiancé and his family.  It was pretty cool to finally get to put a face with a name.  His notes also make it pretty clear that, as I had been told, getting mail from home is a really big deal and means an awful lot to our soldiers.  It's a pretty easy thing we can do to show them our support.

A Stronger Connection

     Today was the day for me to send my monthly care package to my adopted soldier in Afghanistan.    As you may remember, for the first 2 months, I didn't hear anything back from my soldier.  When it came time to send him care packages, I didn't know what he wanted/needed and so I sent pre-made packages through the Soldiers' Angels website.  Now that we're in regular communication, today's experience felt entirely different for me.

     Earlier this week I sent an e-mail to my soldier (I'll call him "L.") asking what he'd like to have.  The two things he asked for were powdered drink mix (like Kool-Aid) and peanut butter.  He said they have plenty of water, but it's nice to taste some flavor once in a while.  Off to Wegman's I went.

     I picked up a couple of different types of drink mix (Kool-Aid and lemonade), as well as some various breakfast bars for snacks.  Then I got a jar of peanut butter as he had requested.  When I got home, I packaged everything together along with a copy of my book (L. mentioned that he wanted to read it), taped it up, and went to the post office.  Other than filling out a customs form, I learned that there's actually nothing different about sending a package to a soldier overseas than sending one to a friend or family member in the States.  

     It really did feel completely different to be shopping for specific things that I know L. wants and would appreciate, and then going through the process of mailing them off myself.  I definitely felt much more connected to him in a positive kind of way.  While ordering a package over the internet is certainly convenient, it left me feeling detached.  Of course, not known anything about L. also no doubt contributed to this feeling.  Either way, it's great to know that he'll soon be getting a care package of just what he wants.

Supporting our Soldiers

     Today was my day to send a monthly care package to my adopted soldier in Afghanistan.  It was also time for my weekly letter as well.

     For the care package, I decided to once again use one of the pre-made packages that are available through the Soldiers' Angels website.  Last time I had sent a variety of food items so this time I decided to send what they call their "male hygiene" package.  It includes things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, mouthwash, nail clippers, and a few other things.  Hopefully he'll find it refreshing to get new stuff like this.  By the way, you don't have to have adopted a soldier in order to send a care package.  Just go to the site and you can send one to any soldier.  It's quick and easy to do, and no doubt, much appreciated.

     I also sent another letter to my soldier today.  Who knows how long these take to get to him or what the time separation is between a letter and a package?  I figure the more mail he gets, the better.  I still have not heard a thing from him.  While I know this is sometimes the case, I must admit that it's difficult to keep the one-way conversation going.  It would be a lot easier to respond to his questions or comments or to send him things that he requests.  Oh well.  I'll keep the faith and trust that my letters are really getting to him and that they're meaningful for him.

Time For A Care Package

     Today was my day to send my first care package to the soldier I had "adopted" a number of weeks ago.  This is the person I wrote about in my post for January 6th as well as the one for January 14th.  My commitment as part of the Soldiers' Angels program is to send at least one letter each week and one care package each month throughout his deployment.

     Since I really wasn't sure what's needed, or for that matter appropriate, to send to a soldier overseas, I did a little internet research to look for advice and ideas.  Not surprisingly, I found a number of sites that not only had ideas, but also had pre-made packages ready for shipment.  In my letters, I've asked my soldier if there are particular things he'd like to receive, but since I haven't heard back yet, for now I'm relegated to putting together a somewhat generic package.

     To be honest, I had considerable debate in my mind as to whether it would be better for me to go shopping for items and construct my own package or whether it was perfectly fine to simply go with a pre-made one.  On the one hand, I felt like it would somehow be more meaningful if I went through the time and effort of putting it together myself.  On the other hand, I suppose what matters most for the soldier is simply receiving the items, and since I don't yet have any idea what he'd really like, the pre-made package seemed as good as anything I might do. 

     In the end, I went with the pre-made package.  It was a cold weather package that included a variety of items from warm sox to packaged soup and tea.  I did it through the Soldiers' Angels site which made it that much easier as well.  Hopefully I'll hear from my soldier before long and be able to tailer future packages more specifically to his needs and wants.  Incidentally, if you're interested, you don't have to have "adopted" a soldier in order to send a care package.  Through the Soldiers' Angels store, as well as several others, you can simply purchase and send a package to a random soldier and it can be done from you personally or even anonymously.  Check it out if you have the inclination.