Sending care packages to troops overseas for the holidays
Last year, my boyfriend and I surprised each other on Christmas with donations to charities as part of our gift exchange. This year, we decided to do something special together for others for the holidays. He came up with a great suggestion: Any Soldier.
AnySoldier.com is a site that coordinates sending care packages to specific Soldiers overseas. Pretty cool that you get to decide who to support. We’ve both donated money to various military charities over the years, but it’s usually to a nonprofit and their overall efforts. This organization is great because you get to reach a specific individual or group with very specific needs.
S kindly left the selecting to me and I chose two Soldiers, one in Kuwait and another in Afghanistan. I based my choices on the length of time left for them serving as well as the number of times an address had been “requested.” Technically, no one is supposed to request an address unless they are actually sending a package, so you have a pretty good idea of how many packages the person has received. I went with two that had been sent less than 10.
One troop was looking for entertainment items such as books and dvds and the other was looking for snacks and products for female troops such as hair things. After signing up to receive the contact information, we were able to take the next step and headed out for shopping and shipping supplies.
We spent a bit more than $100 and were able to comfortably fill two medium flat rate shipping boxes. The site has some fairly specific requirements for shipping through Any Soldier, especially given that the holidays are a time when many more people are likely to want to do something to support the troops overseas. We did our best to read all the details and make sure we met all the requirements so our packages make it through.
Our items have shipped out and we hope they are received soon. We even dropped a quick little note thanking the troops in our packages. The site notes that if you can’t send donations, you’re still welcome to send letters to the troops too. We didn’t include our email for a possible response once the packages are received, but some troops elect to correspond with those who have sent their contact information along with their packages. Note: Soldier’s emails are never directly released to avoid SPAM if you were considering that route.
If you’re thinking of donating to a servicemember in harms way, consider trying Any Soldier. Curious about supporting other branches of the military? Check out Any Airman, Any Marine, Any Sailor or Any Coast Guard on the site too!
Can’t decide who to donate to specifically? They also take financial donations. Wish I had noticed that in time as another option for my CFC contribution. However, there’s always next year!
Happy Holidays all!
