CARE PACKAGES for our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2005

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1273305/posts ^ | 2-18-05 | patriciaruth

[patriciaruth]

Time for a new thread!

Our Merry Band of Patriots has seen a psy-ops unit at Bagram, Afghanistan, help educate voters in Afghanistan and come home successfully, while we supported them and special forces in the field by sending over 100 movies and many packages of snacks and toiletries and Hallowe'en candy. A Christmas tree and decorations (Daybreakcoming) and stockings (Ican'tbelieveit) and cards and over 400 candy canes were sent for their follow-on unit, and a box with movies and magazines and misc is just beginning to fill for their next care package. The movies and books we sent previously went into the Special Forces library there.

We've seen Beast Battery at Kirkuk, Iraq, through till their deployment home, sending them over 100 movies and dozens of books and a microwave and DVD/VCR player (from arjay) and many big boxes of snacks. Plus a huge wave of goodies was organized by McLynnan for Christmas in Kirkuk (2 prelit trees, ornaments, Santa suit, many stockings with stuffers, many cards, and a couple thousand candy canes to share out with all the forces there).

We've supported the 411th Engineers at Baghdad in 2004 with about 70 movies and several dozen books, a Playstation 2 and a Nintendo console with a couple dozen games (from asgardshill and ican'tbelieveit), a 4 foot Christmas tree and ornaments and boxes of snacks and many cards and 600 candy canes. In the next couple months we will be bidding them Godspeed as they return to their homebase in Hawaii.

We've sent over 50 movies, a DVD/VCR player (from arjay), and a dozen and a half books to an MI unit near Kirkuk, plus some Christmas decorations and stocking stuffers, and many cards and 156 candy canes. They have mostly left for home now and we just sent a package with more movies to their follow-on unit.

Also we have sent some packages to an Aviation unit at Balad, Iraq and to an Infantry Medics unit, and a small Christmas package each to another AVN unit and an MP unit.

Stryker Infantry company formerly at Fallujah and now at Mosul since November has been the major focus of our care packages these past months. All of Stryker at Mosul has taken fire, and our adopted company has suffered a KIA and some soldiers with severe injuries.

Early on we sent food items (mostly power bars and dried fruit and nuts) then Christmas stockings stuffed with goodies and many cards and 200 candy canes, and since Christmas have begun sending movies. They recently received a DVD/VCR player (from arjay) and with the movies just mailed today their collection will total about 75 movies and a dozen books.

And all this happened because our grassroots volunteer group began forming in the early summer of 2001 to send care packages to Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, when the 101st Airborne and then the 10th Mountain were there.

The contents of packages just mailed will be listed in post below.

[Just mythoughts]

God Bless you BUMP!!!

[ican'tbelieveit]

You need cream of coconut? Canned? I know the stores around here sell it.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Got 1 box with 30 packages of microwave popcorn off today.

[patriciaruth]

Great going!! Thanks so much!!

Never heard what happened to omegatoo's popcorn, but it sounds like the value of her home just took a nose dive even if it is still intact.

[patriciaruth]

I found cream of coconut today, so we're set for this round.

We may need more in the future, as the party box gets passed around and we need to replenish the consumables. But I'm too tired to even remember your offer now....Hopefully I'll come back and glean this information for my list of go-to people for certain things by rereading the thread later.

I bought some children's books online for the Astrodome:

Delivery estimate: September 8, 2005
1 "Where the Wild Things Are" Maurice Sendak; Hardcover; $10.97
Gift note:Love from THE MERRY BAND OF PATRIOTS
1 "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books)" Dr. Seuss; Hardcover; $8.99
1 "The Little Engine That Could : Original Classic Edition (Little Engine That Could)" Watty Piper; Hardcover; $8.99
1 "Make Way for Ducklings" Robert McCloskey; Hardcover; $12.23
1 "Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))" Dr. Seuss; Board book; $4.99

[patriciaruth]

:-)

[Just mythoughts]

BUMP!!!

[patriciaruth]

This is what I normally do at FR.

[chrispycsuf]

and i thank you for your patriotism...you are a great individual and i dont doubt that at all

[patriciaruth]

Would you like to be on the ping list and follow our activities?

We have adopted units in Bagram, Afghanistan, and in Iraq, 2 in Baghdad, 2 in Kirkuk, 1 in Mosul, and maybe one soon in Tal Afar.

[chrispycsuf]

most definetly

[patriciaruth]

Here's my socially useful thread.

[Quinotto]

I never doubted it :) I've been sending care packages for a while now...and I also served :)

[patriciaruth]

Nice profile page!

[Quinotto]

Thanks :) I just want to make sure our military women are not forgotten !!!

[patriciaruth]

We have Erica, Sheila, Lys, Rebecca, and Michelle currently on our prayer list and package list.

Lys and Rebecca are the go getters who aren't shy about asking for things for their fellow soldiers.

[patriciaruth]

Here's our contact soldier on a drop mission to distribute flyers in Afghanistan, possibly about the upcoming election.

Contents of packages mailed to Baghdad for their End of Summer luau party are posted below.

[Just mythoughts]

BUMP for OUR TROOPS!!!

[patriciaruth]

Mailed 6 boxes August 31, 2005, to Baghdad.
Box 1
Flushable wipes (2 boxes 42 Target and 2 Scott refill packs of 57)
6 DVD’s:
Blue Hawaii (Elvis Presley),
A Better Tomorrow/A Better Tomorrow II (Chow Yun-Fat),
Charlie’s Angels (Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore)
Alamo (Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton)
In Memoriam, NYC, 9/11/01 (narrated by Rudy Giuliani)

Box 2
Bottle 30 maraschino cherries with stem in
Tupperware box
2 sprays artificial orchids. (1 white, 1 purple)
Plastic box 235 white stirrer straws
Plastic box 240 toothpicks with red and green cellophane frills

Box 3
Rose’s lime juice in high fructose corn syrup—in
Tupperware box
2 boxes of 40 light blue flexible straws
2 artificial sprays of orchids (one white, one purple)

Box 4
Rose’s lime juice in high fructose corn syrup, 12 oz—in
Tupperware box
2 artificial sprays of orchids (one white, one purple)
2 DVD’s
Songs of Aloha (PBS program of Hawaiian music, songs, hulas and chant)
Sunsets of Hawaii, Volume One

Box 5
3 toothbrushes
1 bag 2 lbs shredded coconut
1 bag 81 oz Dole Premium Gold Pineapple in own juice
6 cans 8 oz. Dole tropical fruit salad in passion fruit nectar

Box 6
6 toothpaste travel
6 lip balm SPF 4
10 cans Dole tropical fruit salad
1 bag 81 oz Dole Tropical Gold premium cut pineapple in own juice

Mailed September 8, 2005, to Baghdad, 5 more boxes
Box 7
1 bag 2 lbs. shredded coconut
1 bag 81 oz. Dole “Tropical Gold” premium pineapple in own juice
6 cans Dole tropical fruit salad
3 boxes of 30 Q-tips

Box 8
1 bottle 30 maraschino cherries with stem in
Tupperware box
1 can Coco Casa Cream of Coconut 16 oz.
2 cans Dole tropical fruit salad.

Box 9
6 tubs 14 oz Marie’s strawberry glaze
2 cans 11.5 oz Kerns guava nectar

Box 10
2 cans 16 oz Cream of Coconut
1 plastic bottle 64 oz Mr. and Mrs. T’s margarita mix in a Hefty Bag
1 tub Jose Cuervo 6 ¾ oz garita salt with holder for rimming glasses

Box 11
1 plastic bottle 64 oz margarita mix in a Hefty bag
3 cans 16 oz. Cream of Coconut


MJY1288 mailed off the party things we bought at eBay and Amazon, with contributions from Kattracks, jtill, Just mythoughts, Ros42, Pig Rigger, MJY1288 and Kitty Mittens.

2 blenders/ice crushers
2 packages of colored cardboard decorations
50 silk flower Hawaiian leis
100 Hibicus print large plastic disposable cups
24 plastic coconut cups
144 little paper parasols

I am still packing up about 8-10 more boxes.
Full report later.

[iceskater]

Patty-
I mailed off my popcorn - almost 150 packets of popcorn.

Also, I mailed some books. Harry Potter (the last 2 books in the series), some John Grisham novels and some crossword puzzle books. Wasn't there a request for "1776"? I'm not done reading it yet but I'll send it when I'm done if it's still wanted.