First Soldiers' Holiday Care Package

The first Soldiers' Holiday care package probably will get mailed out today or tomorrow. I had planned to do it over this past weekend but got busy with other stuff early Saturday and the Post Office was closed by the time I got back home. These are the items I bought before receiving any donations, if I remember right they cost about $56.00. I am still in the process of shopping for more things with the money I have received in donations. To date I have received $110.46 after PayPal took its cut from the $115.00 of total donations that were sent to my account. So, $110.46 is what I have to use for the next package or two plus whatever else I throw in of my own and I always do that. As usual, I also am paying all shipping costs out of my own pocket.

Hopefully I will get to do some shopping this week but if not I'll do it on this coming weekend. I get a lot of the items for the care packages at Costco. It is a good place for price and for buying items that come in packages that are family sized. That way there is usually plenty to go around when the troops open the box.

As you can see in the photo, most of the items are family sized. There is a box of Tootsie Roll Pops, a Hershey's Variety Pack, a Quaker Chewy Variety Pack, a 36 pack of Duracell AA batteries, and a three pack of wool blend socks. I figure the chocolate bars are okay at this time of the year because it is getting cold and they probably won't melt in transit; hope I am right. Everything else will be fine for sure and I am sure all will be appreciated.

Some of the other things I plan to put in future care packages are more wool blend socks, other snack items, toiletry items, reading material, some folding knives for my assigned soldier's unit, and any special request items (within reason and budget) that my soldier or his unit ask us to send to them. I will keep you all advised as I go along.

Before I close let me send out some thanks to those who have donated so far:

Al S.
James R.
Aaron S.
Michael S.

You gentlemen are the greatest.

As I have said before, if you want to donate don't be bashful. You don't need to donate a lot to make a difference. Whatever you can spare goes to help put a smile on some soldiers' faces. If you want to donate, there is a PayPal link on the upper right side of my blog in the red field. All money I receive, after PayPal takes their fee, goes toward the purchase of contents for the care packages, I pay all shipping costs out of my own pocket. Thanks again.

All the best,
Glenn B