Soldiers Angels Program

that's what i emailed jane. whoever is writing a card or letter can put it in the envelope, seal it and send it to me (tina has enough going on i think now) and i am more than happy to address it and get it out. maybe the card one would be nice. we could join that and we can assign a week on for each person interested and they could do the cards that week. what do you think about that? jane did send me something about a sunday posting where soldiers ask for things from popcorn to refrigerators. would anyone be interested? i could look on sunday and see what was reasonable and we could send to a paypal account and i would be more than happy to purchase and mail. let me know what you all think.

Ivanova wrote:

if we centralize the packages going through NYC, then only Tina/Pat need to know the contact info and don't have to share it.

Letters/cards - that's a different story.

Thats my thought, that the packages are all that needs to be sent from NY, the rest we can send and rotate the letters around. I think having to resend every mail would get old. (send it to one person who then has to forward it). The cards are one time shots unless a soldier writes back, usually to thank you and you want to write back again. Im not sure I want to bite off more money wise than Iv already obligated myself to do, but I can send extra cards and more letters.

The adoption is a long term committment, up to 18 months, but the card team we can each do on our own and send, but then its not doing it as a group? Back to how to do this as a group. If anyone has ideas, we can brainstorm this weekend, but Im not sure this is conducive to a far flung group.

Sorry Pat for not getting back to you, had to do things this afternoon and was already running late.

i have the 'adoption' in place i am just waiting on some more info and you will hear the details by the end of the weekend.

SundayInThePark wrote:

This is a great concept - another thought is we could have an area where those in the military can post and share their thoughts/experiences with us here on the board. Then again, that requires internet access...never mind...

Those serving do have access to the internet. I had a friend who served 18 months in Iraq and the internet kept her very much in touch with her friends and family. Some branches of the military change their e-mail address to their name and the word "deployed" so you actually know they are not stateside. My friend is in the Illinois National Guard and they do not do this. However, I recently learned by e-mailing clients the the Corps of Engineers does this. Currently my friend is on maternity leave but already knows she will be going to Afganistan and leaving her baby behind for 6 to 18 months.

oesnjstar wrote:

that's what i emailed jane. whoever is writing a card or letter can put it in the envelope, seal it and send it to me (tina has enough going on i think now) and i am more than happy to address it and get it out. maybe the card one would be nice. we could join that and we can assign a week on for each person interested and they could do the cards that week. what do you think about that? jane did send me something about a sunday posting where soldiers ask for things from popcorn to refrigerators. would anyone be interested? i could look on sunday and see what was reasonable and we could send to a paypal account and i would be more than happy to purchase and mail. let me know what you all think.

I think this is a wonderful idea!

I was over there in 2005/06 and if your doing a care package here
are some ideas.

Heat resistant candy: gum, licorice, indiv wrapped life savers, NO chocolate
it gets as high as 130-140 most things melt or your too nauseous to eat
it. Jolt or caff gum is popular as are the 5hr energy shots.

Movies on DVD "new ones" many soldiers have either a port. DVD player
or access to one. Also TV series are nice CSI. Law and Order

Magazines Maxim, FHM, are popular. Local newspapers are fun too read.
puzzle books, or paperback novels.

Cans of compressed air and zip lock bags are usefull in the desert

Socks, underwear, chapstick, foot spray.

Coffee Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, no whole beans.

The military has literally everything you could imagine on these bases, and
with easy internet access I ordered stuff from ebay all the time. Having
said that getting care packages is more about moral than shear need.
The troops know this and greatly appreciate it. Handwritten notes from
children with mispelled words and incomprehensible artistry were very
popular among those with children at home. I festooned my entire locker
with them as did many others.

Thank You for all your support.

WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

Since a lot of you have expressed interest, I have adopted a soldier. Because of privacy I can not list his name here but I will provide it to the person when their turn comes to write to him. If you hear from our soldier you may post what you get without putting any personal info up. So if he replies please please please post it here and let us know. And please when writing to him they ask that you not write anything derogatory, inflammatory, depressing or political. I have an email address too so if someone wishes to correspond with him that way, let me know and I’ll get that info to you.

Once of month or so they would like care packages. I am lead to believe that it is cheaper if the shipping comes from the NYC area so if you would like to donate to this worthy project you can donate to my paypal account (oesnjstar@comcast.net) and I would be more than happy to shop, pack and mail. If you donate, please email me and let me know what you want me to pick up for the monthly package. This is a link to items to put in care package with the most frequently requested items listed in red:
http://soldiersangelsforum.com/index.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

Please p.m. me with your email address or email me at oesnjstar@comcast.net so that I can give you the information to send letters and cards for the upcoming month of March.

God Bless America

I am a member of the Military Moms & Wives of Brazoria County. We send packages at least 4 times a year. We send literally HUNDREDS of boxes each shipment. Our postage was over 20,000 dollars at one time. We shipped well over 2000 boxes! We get donations of supplies, money, etc. It ALL goes towards the packages and occasionally for a soldiers family that is in need of help.
So far, we have had a lot of great exposure.....World News with Charles Gibson, Good Morning America, a lot of local stuff, and Great Day Houston. It is such a wonderful feeling to help all these soldiers. Oh, we also have the honor of having one of our local soldiers receive the Silver Star for heroism. Her name is Monica Brown.
Here are a couple more articles..http://www.defenselink.mil/heroes/profiles/brownM.html
KHOU Hometown Heroes
She has also come out to help us put yellow ribbons on all the tress down the main street of our town.

We put out flags (3'x5') down the street and all around the yard, for every soldier that comes home. We do the same if they are killed in action. We are there to support the families.They are escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders (John and I are also members of this group).

In addition to putting together care packages, we also have a local man that has a Fence of Crosses. Jimmy Jackson placed the more than 4,879 small, white
crosses that line his fence, bearing the names of American service
members killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Some of the groups that come out to help are Members of the Military Moms, Brazoria County Honor
Guard, Brazoria County Cavalry, American Legion Post 835 and American
Legion Post 241. Hurricane Ike flattened about two-thirds of the fence, but volunteers helped restore the sections.

FYI - Just heard that one of our local soldiers here just got awarded the Bronze Star!!! Carissa Pastuch
Pastuch received hers after 15 months as a senior interrogator for a joint task force in Iraq.

Our soldiers are AWESOME!!

we had a lot of interest and tina asked me to start it up. i adopted a soldier and have not heard from anyone since to help out with this project. i need help with it.

Pat,

You have a PM from me

Hi Pat, I just sent you a pm. Please let me know what you need help with,
Kelcie

kelcie - thank you. barb has march cards and package but i did email her about you. thanks again.

This is a great idea. I have been collecting old cell phones and turning them into an organization that trades them of or sells them for phone cards, which are them sent to the troops in Iraq and Afganistan. Tomorrow, I have a meeting with the Criminal Justice Society at my school. I think this is a great project for us to take on. PWK

As everyone knows we are trying to adopt a soldier. Or more like we are trying to get people to come forward to send a card, letter or email at least once a week. don't have a lot of volunteers. i have barb signed up for march but that's it. please help us out. anyway, i got an email from our soldier. i wrote to him and asked him what he needed and he called me ma'am. well if you're getting older that term is like nails on a blackboard. LOL so i wrote back that he needn't call me ma'am and was he sure there was absolutely nothing that he needed and was he allowed to tell me anything about himself. so here's what i got:








sorry mam
is a habit,in a good one at that.Im not really used to asking people for things
i dont believe ive earned or deserve.Mean my momma you kow always gave me
what i needed growing up,but as i got older startedworking trying to make it on
my own with still help its just how i was brought up i guess.I mean yea of
course i definetly love movies comedies and such,im a big food lover basically
im on a see food diet,i see it im eating it lol.And my bad habit or addiction
is skoal anyhting longcut straight or natural.Anything you wanna know just ask
ill try an answer to the whole truth and best of my knowledge.Basically me i
was born and raised in northeast TN,just a regular old country boy.My
biological father left when i was 18mnths old.So my mom raised me on her own
along with help from my mamaw my two aunts.Only guy i grew up round mostly was
my cousin XXX.I have a very close family for the most part,They have been
especially very supportive and loving to me over the years as i grew up.I know
im basically gonna be the death of them with all my craziness,i mean at 15 and
a half yrs old i joined the fire dept and did that for 3 yrs,now im in iraq as
a soldier,alot of my family including my mother was at one time in the
military,so they are always there when i need someone to talk to and for the
most understand some of my situations.Umm all in all im a very happy person,i
love life and try and live each day one day at a time just living it to its
fullest.I am 20 yrs old as well,now single and never been married,have no kids.Basically
growing up i loved to hunt and fish,rode horses and 4wheelers.Lived on a big
acreage farm land,id bale hay and hang tobbaco stalks i had a lot to weedeat
and such.We grew a garden every year and of course we canned.Ive got a
fourlegged brother lol he's 4 and a half hes a toy pomeranian such a spoilt
brat and a mommas boy big time.I attached a pic of myself with him hope you
didnt mind.But his name is kujoe.And it would hurt his feelings if he found out
he was a dog so if you ever see him dont tell him lol,im serious thats how
spoilt he is.All in all this is basically me,you need or just wanna know more
feel free to give me a shout and ask me.Email anytime even if you dont have
nothing to say just wanna say hi im always happy to hear from someone,makes my
day better.Anyways im close for now please take care and God Bless

Pat,

Thanks for posting that now I know I'll need to add Skoal and a couple of movies to my shopping list for this weekend.

Pat - can you make a list of items needed/requested it and we can send it to you or Tina to place in a care box and then once the list is complete we ship it off?

here is a list of items they usually request: http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=donating-items

instead of paying for shipping to me or tina and then for us to ship it i can give you his address and you can send it. i understand it is cheaper if you live in this area. i see you are in n.j. i am in toms river (work) and barnegat (home). is this close to you? we can meet and get it. you can see he requested skoal and any kind of food and comedy dvds. you can also donate a package to him thru soldiersangels.org and if you pm me i will give you his name and it will be tax deductible.

or you can donate a few dollars to my paypal account and i will shop for him.

Pat,

Don spoke to one of the clerks at the post office and the best price for shipping is a priority mail box at $10.95. The post office does give a discount for shipping to APO boxes and I'm not clear if the $10.95 is before or after the discount and the boxes are free. The largest box available is 12 x 12 x 5 and it is a flat rate for shipping no matter how much you put in it up to 20 lbs. The clerk also told Don if you are shipping light items (think blankets & towels) then it's cheaper to use your own box and pay the postage.

Hi everyone,
Here's an email I received from our soldier. He seems to be a really nice person. I'm sure he'd love to talk with the firefighters on our board. Wouldn't it be great if after he finishs his tour, he could go on his first cruise? Have a good Thrusday everyone,
Kelcie

" please call me sam sammy or samuel.I feel old with mr.xxx lol.And thank you very much for the support.Sounds you know little something bout the military life there,that is very cool.Wow ive never been on a cruise,that sounds like you have a pretty adventurous life style.My interest are basically anything.I can have a conversation about nothing litterally lol.But about me im country as all get out,ummi,i love life,i dip which is bad,im a huge fan of the TN Vols and Colts.I also am a fan of tarheel basketball and i pull for the atlanta braves mlb.Lets see im born and raised in TN,im 20 yrs old was a firefighter for 3 years joined the service right outta high school.Anything else ya wanna know just give me a shout and let me know.Other than that im gonna close for take care and we will ttul"

Barbee524 wrote:

Pat,

Don spoke to one of the clerks at the post office and the best price for shipping is a priority mail box at $10.95. The post office does give a discount for shipping to APO boxes and I'm not clear if the $10.95 is before or after the discount and the boxes are free. The largest box available is 12 x 12 x 5 and it is a flat rate for shipping no matter how much you put in it up to 20 lbs. The clerk also told Don if you are shipping light items (think blankets & towels) then it's cheaper to use your own box and pay the postage.

$10.95 is the discounted price. It would be $12.95 otherwise. There are actually two boxes that you can ship for that price. One is kinda square and much deeper and one is what they call hat box size. There is also a smaller size kinda of hatbox, longer and thinner that is not discounted that I think I was charged $9.95 that holds quite a bit. It went up for $8.95 this past year, the bigger box the price is still the same.

You can order these boxes online from USPS. I just go get them. The more square box has to be taped and is more of a pain to put together, so I prefer the longer and more thin box that I believe has more square inches in it anyway. It has pull tabs you just pull and press to seal it. Both are the same price and for a few things you might need the deeper box, so I keep a couple of them on hand, but mostly the box with the pull tabs. Both are discounted to $10.95.

Iv been doing this about a year.

doesn't he sound like an awesome kid.

kelcie - i posted probably on the prior page of what he emailed to me. he also sent me a pic of him and his little pomeranian but we can't post it due to his privacy.

now if he'll just stop calling me ma'am

This is a wonderful idea.

I have 2 boys in the military. Vincent who is in the Navy and Anthony who is in the Army and is stationed in Iraq @ this time.

This weekend I am going shopping to send packages.

The is a all the time discount for anything you purchase at the online store. It took me at least 4 months to see it on the forum (there is a lot of info to sort thru).

I believe its angels10 (could be without the s, but I think thats it, you might want to go look to verify. I could have been getting 10% off from the beginning. Holidays they sometimes have even better specials, easy to miss them so keep a eye peeled. Last July 4th on the cool? package, some summer stuff was the best special Iv seen.

dream2cruise wrote:

This is a wonderful idea.

I have 2 boys in the military. Vincent who is in the Navy and Anthony who is in the Army and is stationed in Iraq @ this time.

This weekend I am going shopping to send packages.

You can send them from the soldier's angels store online too, as long as they are stationed overseas. Cant have them sent home as everything is donated and meant for our soldiers, navy etc.

So how is this working? Is there a list or a rotation of who is doing what for our guy?