Trick or Treat For Our Troops

A lot of you know that we support a US Military Unit stationed in Afghanistan with care packages every month. Well, since it's Halloween, we came up with something fun that we did to benefit the troops.

Chablis, my sister Laurie, and I all dressed up like soldiers and went trick or treating for our troops.

We wore signs that explained what we were doing and then as we went to each house we also explained that we were collecting candy to send to our soldiers.  We also passed out flyers explaining the Any Soldier program.

The response we got was overwhelming!  Before we even reached the first house a neighborhood police car pulled up next to us by the curb and the officer leaned out the window and handed us a bunch of candy and wished us luck!  Honest to God, people were throwing handfuls of candy into our bags.  Several people said what we were doing was wonderful and dumped their entire candy bowls into one of our bags.  One woman laughed when we explained it to her and said "Thank goodness.  I was wondering why such old women were out trick or treating."   Ok, that was kind of funny but I sort of took offense at the old women remark!  Then she gave us a bunch of candy so I forgave her.  But the BEST one was an elderly lady who said she loved what we were doing because her grandson was in the army and waiting for his orders to ship out.  She gave us each a nice baggy full of candy and we went on to the next house.  A few minutes later the old lady came back outside and shouted for us to come back.  She handed us an entire bag of unopened candy to send to the soldiers.  Wasn't that sweet?  She almost made me cry.

It was quite the haul.  This was what we collected in one hour....

We'll be packing up boxes this week and you can bet that they will be stuffed with a lot of candy.  I think the soldiers are really going to like all the treats.  People sure were nice and I have to say, VERY appreciative of our military.

All I can say is God Bless all the generous people tonight for giving from their hearts and God Bless to our great military personnel.  It was a perfect evening to be out - the temperature was about 50 degrees and lots of kids were out trick or treating.  And a few old women!

Any Soldier Update - October

As many of you know, we are supporting a unit of our soldiers in Afghanistan with care packages every month.  I like to think of them as "Boxes of Love!"  I can tell you that the soldiers really appreciate the little gifts we send them, in addition to cards and letters.  Who doesn't love to get a letter or a present?

Last month I wrote some letters to different companies asking for donations of different items to include in the boxes.  Well, the pretzel company HK Anderson stepped up and donated several boxes of pretzels for me to include in the next couple of boxes.   I got the idea to write to them because we are personally big fans of their pretzels.  My husband had their 44 oz. container of peanut butter nuggets sitting on his end table and I thought, "Hey, let me try asking them for some individual sized packs to send."  Well, they responded almost immediately and said they would be glad to help out.  Put your hands in the air for HK Anderson!!!

If you're not familiar with HK Anderson, please check out their website.  Their snacks are both yummy and nutritious.  I borrowed these fun facts directly from their website:

• From start to finish it takes about 40 minutes to make and bake a pretzel.
• Largest pretzel ever baked was 40 lbs
• Our bakers make sure that each pretzel is twisted perfectly and has just the right amount of salt
• Our pretzels do not contain any animal fats, artificial colors or flavors, or preservatives as many other snacks do
• Pretzels are baked, not fried - one reason why they are a low fat, low cholesterol snack

I personally love the honey wheat braids, and my husband is going to turn into a peanut butter filled nugget!  (just don't tell him I said that!)   HK Anderson also has a Facebook page, so go check them out.

I packed up a box for the soldiers this weekend....

Chablis' box for this month will go out next week.

Here's a sample of some of the items we have collected that are going into the next boxes......

We have lots of books, magazines and DVD's ready to go.  We also try to get lotions, shampoo, soaps, shaving cream and razors, toothbrushes and toothpaste and deodorant.  Plus lots of drink mixes, tea, coffee, candy and great snacks like HK Anderson pretzels.  We also try to include crossword puzzles, tennis balls and games, writing papers, colored pencils and cards.   Plus letters that we write to them.

The Any Soldier Program is a wonderful program.  If you can't send care packages, or don't have the time, you can still send a card or write a letter.  Believe me, they will appreciate it. 

Please help support our military!

Any Soldier Program

A couple of weeks ago I did a post on the Any Soldier Program.   If you missed the post, you can backtrack and read all about it here.

Anyway, we've been sending out 2 boxes every month, plus my sister and my mom are also sending boxes.  We have been filling them with stuff like dvd's, magazines, books, all kinds of snacks, toiletries, coffee, coffee mugs, games and puzzles.  Then we write a letter to them and enclose it in the box.  So far we hadn't heard anything so we've been hoping our boxes were getting to where they were suposed to be going.  Each box has been sent to a new contact person in a different location.

But today....  Today I was so excited because I got an email from the last group that I sent a box to.  They were so happy and so appreciative of the box.  And I was so thankful to hear that my box got to a group so quickly.  So I have officially adopted this group.  It's a unit of 20 soldiers and from now on I'll be sending them a box each month.  Since Halloween is coming up, the next box will be filled with candy and whatever stuff I can think of that has to do with Halloween.  Novembers' box will be Thanksgiving and then December will of course be dedicated to Christmas.  Plus, since this is football season, I am sending out football stuff.

I really enjoy putting the boxes together and writing the letters.  I like to think about the soldiers on the other end who will be opening them and hope they have a few minutes of enjoyment during their busy day and know that the people at home are thinking about them.  With winter on its way, and yes it gets cold over there, my mom and sister are busy knitting scarves.  My knitting skills are not too swift, so I'm going to have to think of something I can make using my sewing machine.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

I just wanted to share this update with you and urge everyone to check out the Any Soldier site.  Like I said before, even a letter or a card will brighten someones day!  Please think about it.

Tervis Tumbler Contest

I love my Tervis Tumbler.  If you don't know what a Tervis Tumbler is, then you need to check them out.  I bought my first one a couple weeks ago when we were in Kentucky and since then I've bought 4 more.  They are the best!!!  They keep cold drinks - cold and hot drinks, well, hot!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I did a post on the anysoldier program.  Maybe you remember it.  If not, or if you might have missed the post, please go back and read about it.  Our military does not get the proper support that it should.  Don't get me wound up on this issue because I get nuts.  I find it hard to believe that in this day and age, that our soldiers, who are putting their lives on the line every day, can not get basic supplies in a lot of cases.  Supplies like soap, shampoo, deodorant, socks, books, magazines, gum and snacks.  Hello!!!  Seriously??    The anysoldier program lets us donate much needed items to our guys and girls in the military who can really use them.  Go here to read about it thru their direct website.

Anyway, that kind of leads me to todays post in a very roundabout way because you are probably wondering what Tervis Tumblers and the anysoldier program can possibly have to do with each other.  Well, I'm gonna tell you.

Tervis is having a "Smart Cup" contest.   They are inviting anyone to come up with a good alternative use for their cups.  Since we are sending monthly care packages to our soldiers, I had the idea of Tervis making either a "Support our Soldiers" cup that anyone could buy and fill with candy and drink items and send to the military.  OR...  Tervis could actually make a gift pack that comes pre-made with candy and drink packages for purchase for the soldiers.  This is a rough mock up of what I came up with and sumbitted...

You can click on this link to go to the Tervis FB page and vote.  Hopefully you'll vote for MY design but there are lots of other submissions, so check them all out.  The contest runs for 4 weeks.  The grand prize winner will win a trip to Florida and a tour of the Tervis factory.  I want that trip!  If I go I'd have a good chance of promoting this great idea for our soldiers.  At the very least you might come up with an idea of your own to submit.  So go check it out!

Any Soldier Program

If you have a family member who is serving in the military, or know of someone who is serving in our military, and even if you don't - I think you'll find this interesting.

A couple of weeks ago Chablis was having a bad day.  She was walking around like a mope and complaining about life in general and I got a little ticked off at her.  I told her that if she was so unhappy with her life, then she should go volunteer somewhere and do something for someone else.  I said if she would do something that would make a difference in someone else's life, then maybe it would make her feel better about herself.  Well, she actually listened to me, got on the computer and came back to me the next day with an idea that "Blew my Mind!"

She found out about an organization called "Any Soldier.com."  Any Soldier lets you support military personnel in any of our armed forces.  YOU pick the branch of service, YOU pick the unit, YOU pick what you want to send to them. 

Go to their website and click on "WHERE TO SEND."  A drop down list appears and you can select Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine or Coast Guard.  A list of contact names then appears.  You can scroll down through them and check them out.  Each name is the unit contact person.  You send your package to them and write "ANY SOLDIER" on the address and the contact person will give your package to any soldier in their unit who is in need of a letter or care package.  Believe me, there are HUNDREDS to choose from.  When you click on a contact name you can look to the right of it and it tells you how many male and female members are in the unit.

Some of the contact people will even list what their units would like and you'd be surprised at what they ask for - basic toiletries, books, magazines, playing cards, coffee, snacks, socks, frisbees, balls, paper and pens.  But the most requested things are letters.  All they want is a connection to somebody back home.  This is our military who does so much for us and is asking for so little in return.  I think Chablis hit it out of the park on this one - I was immediately enthused.

Louie, Chablis, Tony and I went to the store that very night and shopped for all kinds of stuff.  I tried to imagine what I would want to get in a care package if I was thousands of miles from home.   We bought a lot of stuff and I have to tell you, my kids stepped up to the plate and used their own money for this. 

I went to the post office and found out that for the military packages they will give you, for free, these military shipping boxes. 

There is ONE standard price of $ 12.95 to then ship the box, no matter how much it weighs.  So go ahead and jam pack it with stuff.  It then gets shipped to the military APO center on the east or west coast and the military ships it from there.

When you pack up the box,  don't mix things like soap or deodorant in the same box as one with snacks.  The scent of toiletries will transfer over to the food.  It takes approximately 2-3 weeks for the soldiers to receive the boxes and some of them are in areas of extreme heat.  Think about that when you're buying stuff that might melt in a hot box.  And be sure to include a personal letter to the soldier.  You can talk about anything.  I've been including some excerpts from my blog - kind of light and airy, not too personal, hopefully amusing.  Then tape the crap out of the box.  I've been told that they get tossed around pretty good, so I cover every edge with clear mailing tape. 

You also need a customs form. 

Go to the post office and get it ahead of time and take it home to fill out.  Don't let it freak you out tho - it's easier than you think.  You fill in your address info and then the military info.  Now here's the part you have to remember.....  You need to write down each item you pack in the box, as well as the weight of each item.  I just grab a sheet of notebook paper, write down each item and it's weight as I'm packing it, and then include that list with the customs form.  On the front of the form it asks you what's in the box.  I just list books, magazines, snacks and see attached list.  You have to put the total weight of the box and the value of the contents on the form.  List it as a GIFT.  You can also write on the form that if for some reason its undeliverable, then to send it to the nearest area chaplain.  Otherwise you will get the box mailed back to you. 

So far we've mailed out 4 boxes.  Personally I don't know anyone who is serving in the military right now.  If I did, I'd sure be sending them packages.  It makes me feel good to do this.  It makes my kids feel good to do this.  These guys and girls in our military deserve our help and recognition.  They seriously ask for so little and are putting their lives on the line every day. 

If you read this I hope it moves you to send a box.  Please feel free to post a link on your blog back to this so even more people will see it.  Imagine how many boxes can go out if every person who reads this post sends out just one box.  Or even a letter will do.  Please help support our military.