As we start into the Holiday rush I just wanted to share a little something that John & I have been doing for the last couple years. We both hold those who serve in our military close to our hearts. John served in the Air Force & his dad (WWII) my dad & my step dad (Vietnam) served along with many more uncles cousins & friends. If you agree with the mission or not I urge everyone to remember that it is because of the sacrifices of our brave brothers and sisters throughout the history of our great nation is the reason we are able celebrate Thanksgiving & whatever chosen December Holiday that we observe or for that matter have the opportunity to chose not to celebrate. We must remember that these people that are severing during this holiday season are sons/daughters, husbands/wives, fathers/mothers, & friends of someone and will be away from their families so that we can celebrate with ours.
So a couple years ago I found this organization that found away to give a little something back to our troops for all that they do. Any Soldier.com is a little bit different & that is what drew us to it. I am a hands on kind of Gal & prefer to not just give money. Because the concerns of terrorists you are not permitted to just send a care package addressed to “any soldier” as you could in the past & this box would just have been randomly handed to a service man/woman who might not otherwise receive any mail. As we all love to receive mail (hello Swap Bot? Don’t tell me you don’t like to get mail! Ok not the bill kind, sure.)
What any soldier has done is allow the soldiers to sign up on their site to receive care packages. Usually this person is the unit leader or just a member that has taken notice that other soldiers might not receive any mail or care packages. They sign up & tell a little bit about the unit or themselves. Here is where you can search for a soldier to send to.You can read though the listings & select who you might like to send a care package or write. You send it to the attention of the person that registered & they will share with the unit or maybe distribute to the members that are not receiving anything at all.
We feel that this is a great program & love that we are able to pick who we are sending to. It makes it seem more personal. We haven’t ever heard back from any of the people that we have sent packages to personally but they often post on Any Soldier that they are so grateful for what they have received & for us that is just fine. It just feels good that we are bale to brighten someone’s day that is sacrificing so much just so that we can live our lives.
We are going to pick a couple of soldiers to send to & probably get our packages off this weekend in the hopes of them arriving in time for the holidays. So I wanted to share this with my blogging friends so that maybe in the rush of the season you might find a spare few minutes to send a box or even letters to thank those who won’t be fortunate enough to be with their loved ones this holiday in order for the rest of us to enjoy ours.
Happy Thanksgiving & God Bless!
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2 comments:
Thank you for the inspiration for Any Soldier packages. I have two packages for female soldiers all packaged up and ready to go. startrek
It is almost like sychronicity that you mention this site - my PTA board (yes, God love me, I'm on the PTA....) discussed this at our last meeting and are trying to start a school wide effort to collect for this. Or at the very least, spread awareness of this program. I think it sounds like a lovely site, and I thank you for sharing this link with everyone. I also applaud you and John for all your generosity already. You are a good example to follow...
I do not agree with this war, never have. And unfortunately, I don't think that we can just pull out now - I think we've passed the point of no return. But no matter my anger at Dubya, and the rest of them in Washington, I have never once had anything but admiration and gratitude for the soldiers who are over there. (even though it makes me angry that I think we've put so many men and women in harm's way for reasons that are - at best - misguided and uninformed...)
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