Harford County Students Send Care Package To Soldiers Stationed Overseas

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — The holidays can be a lonely time for soldiers stationed overseas who are missing home and loved ones.

North Harford Middle School students decided to assemble a care package for their service-learning project that was sent to Air Force Unit 61823, which is stationed in the Middle East.

The students gathered 234 cards full of thankfulness, 14 thank you bags filled with candy and three pounds of assorted chocolates and hard candies.

"The package was received this week by AF Unit 61823 and they're eager to share these tokens of appreciation with their fellow Airmen during the holidays," the school district posted on its Facebook page.

The Red Cross Holidays for Heroes program helps Americans to “Give Something That Means Something” this holiday season and other holidays year-round. Check with the local Red Cross office for details.

According to Military OneSource, below are some military care package ideas that are appreciated by service members:

• Necessities, such as sunblock, socks, underwear, flip-flops, lip balm and powder
• Snacks, including chips, salsa, nuts, cookies, beef jerky, non-melting candy and trail mix in packaging that isn’t easily crushed. Drink mixes in single-serving packets are also a good addition.
• Homemade foods: The most popular items are cookies and “cake in a jar,” which is a cake baked in a canning jar. Again, the key is sturdy packaging to prevent crushing.
• Games, such as playing cards/poker chips, crosswords or puzzle books.
• Stationery is a must if you want to receive any letters from your service member. Send paper, envelopes, address labels and pens, but skip the stamps. They won’t need them.
• Photos and notes that show your support and affection. Maybe get a daily tear-off calendar and write an encouraging note on each page.

Once you know what you want to send, follow these tips to make sure your military care package arrives in good condition:

• Seal everything: Individually seal items in plastic bags with zip locks, if possible, to protect items from the elements or to keep them from leaking out.
• Use sturdy packaging: The best packaging is a free Military Care Kit from the U.S. Postal Service, which includes priority mail boxes, tape, custom forms and address labels. The packaging is free, but the postage is not.
• Provide accurate shipping information: Include your service member’s unit, last and first name, title, DPO/FPO/APO and full ZIP code.
• Take advantage of reduced postage for military mail: You only have to provide standard domestic postage on mail going to an APO or FPO address. For example, if you pay $5 to mail a package in the continental United States, it costs the same to mail it overseas as long as you have an APO / FPO / DPO address and associated ZIP code.
• Complete the customs forms: You need to fill out customs forms for any shipping outside the United States. Customs forms are included with Military Care Kits or can be found on the USPS website.
• Consider shipping time: Most care packages can make it to the Middle East in about two weeks, but some take longer. For holidays, allow about five weeks for delivery.
• Be careful what you send: Check the post office’s prohibited items list to keep items from being rejected. Remember that sometimes packages from home get opened by someone before your service member, so don’t send anything you don’t want strangers to see. Also, don’t send things that are valuable or can’t be replaced – sometimes packages get lost.

Support Our Troops emphasized double-bagging individual liquid and gel items. Below are care package content suggestions from troop members provided by Support Our Troops:

Goods

• $25 VISA and MasterCard gift cards (gives them maximum flexibility, for WIFI, etc)
• Personal hygiene items(unscented whenever possible)
  • Wet wipes, individually wrapped
  • Disposable razors (men's and women's)
  • Chap sticks
  • Body wash, lotion, face wash, mouth wash, deodorant, Q-tips, shampoo, conditioner
  • Foot powder, etc.
• Feminine products (unscented whenever possible)
  • Small packs of napkins and tampons
  • Female version of body wash, lotion, razors, face wash, mouth wash, deodorant, Q-tips, hair detangler, face moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner
  • Small grooming kits
• Laundry PODS packed in a sturdy plastic or metal container.
• Sunscreen
• Magazines (clean content)
• Fun posters and calendars for dressing the place up
• AA and AAA batteries
• Movies and music on thumb drives only (CDs, DVDs and tapes typically are unusuable)
• 2 GB + USB memory sticks ( blank thumb drives)
• Protein mixer bottles/shakers
• Cross training Shoes - men's sizes 11, 12
• Cordless/electric hair clipper
• Cordless/electric nose/ear hair trimmer
• 3M sticky wall hooks
• Hand sanitizer
• Cards, letters, group photos (so the troops to know real people did this for them)

Food

• Beef jerky
• Hard candy
• Gum – all flavors
• Protein bars (Quest/Mission 1/Combat Crunch; cookies and cream/chocolate)
• Cookies, crackers
• Corn Nuts
• Chocolate candy
• Candy bars
• Rice Krispy Treats
• Slim Jims
• Granola and other snack bars
• Nuts other than peanuts in resealable containers
• Dried fruits in resealable containers
• Tins and packets of flavored coffee and cappuccino
• Breath mints

No-Nos

• No pressurized product (aerosol shave cream etc.)
• No cocoa