CARE PACKAGES for our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2008

patriciaruth ^ | 3-29-08 | patriciaruth

[SENClander]

I have a couple of small flat rate boxes at the house that I’ll fill with Valentine goodies and get off this week, Patty

[patriciaruth]

Let me know what you are thinking about choosing so I can branch out from there.

[SENClander]

I have two heart shaped boxes of Russell Stover candy, individual packs of “conversation” hearts and M&M’s, heart shaped lollipops, Tootsie Roll lollipops, heart shaped Nestle Crunch, and two boxes Valentines cookies. All good, healthy food, right? ;o)

[patriciaruth]

With gratitude to our Heavenly Father and prayers for the Iraqis who gave their lives for their country, here is email from our incommunicado adopted soldier in Iraq:

Hi Patty,

The team is doing well. Although earlier in the month four Iraqi National Policemen died as a result of an IED. That was a particularly rough week. We worked closely with one of the young lietenants that died as a result of the IED blast.

I received your letter in the mail a few weeks ago and responded to it. I hope that the letter arrived sometime in the past week or so. Until I got your letter, I had not realized it had been so long since we last corresponded. It has been pretty busy here the past few months and we have had a series of internet connectivity problems. Someone told me that one of the cables leave Iraq was cut. I have also not been able to correspond with my family in the past few months. My Grandmother passed away on December the 15th and I didn’t find out about it until I called them on Christmas day. Internet got a little better in the past few weeks though. It now doesn’t take half an hour to download email from the accounts.

Right now the team is focused on coaching the Iraqis on providing security for their Provincial Elections. Today was the Special Elections and so far there have been no attacks against voting sights. We hope that the situation remains the same until the completion of the voting.

[snip]

Thank you for your support in the past year.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping/post and all that you do, Patty. The letter was sad and optimistic. The finest FReepers supporting America’s finest BUMP!

[patriciaruth]

manna; jtill; Enterprise; SwatTeam; SENClander:

I mailed 6 boxes with 54 Valentine bags this morning to Bagram, and will send more out tomorrow. SENClander sent some great ones early this week. I wish I’d been up to doing this sooner, but been under the weather and then hubby’s birthday took up time.

Bags each had little heart box of chocolates, 1 single of oatmeal, cocoa, tea, coffee, cider; blueberry cereal bar, Top Ramen chicken noodles, 1 oz of cashews, and a chocolate covered cherry.

Normally packages mailed Friday morning would reach Bagram the next Thursday; but with the Kiber pass blown up and the supply route compromised, none of the care packages may get through for a while as the air field is probably being used for airlifting supplies now.

I’m going to email our contact tomorrow after everything has been mailed and let him know that at least it was sent.

Some wonderful news is that daybreakcoming is in remission now, no cancer seen on her latest Xrays. She has been going through cycles of chemo and radiation for over a year now. I was finally able to tell her that FOB Falcon got the Christmas tree.

[patriciaruth]

...but I can’t send the boxes to FOB Falcon yet as I won’t have the new contact’s name for another week.

[patriciaruth]

SENClander mailed out 2 boxes to Bagram Wednesday, and I hope she’ll post her contents.

The first 8 Valentine boxes I mailed today and yesterday to Bagram were financed by jtill, manna, Enterprise, and SwatTeam. Thank you all for the big help. 3 Boxes are ready for FOB Falcon in Iraq, but can’t go till I have the new contact’s name and APO. Deliveries to Bagram may be held up as I am guessing that the damage to the bridge at the Kyber Pass has put stress of airlifting supplies into Bagram Air Field, and care packages may have low priority.

Great News: Praises and thank yous to our Heavenly Father for the news that daybreakcoming is now in remission after a year of chemo and radiation.

Mailed February 6, 2009, to Bagram, 6 boxes 12x12
Boxes 1-6 all had 9 Valentine bags and a Weekly Standard magazine, valued at $28.25 a box, with postage $11.95 per box.
The Valentine decorated cellophane bags (.03) were filled with
1 little heart shaped box of Russell Stover chocolates holding 3 pieces $1.00
1 Cello foil wrapped milk chocolate covered cherry .18
1+ oz Planter’s whole cashews .45 + baggie .04
1 pkg Top Ramen noodles chicken flavoring .17
1 envelop store brand hot chocolate .10
1 envelop Quaker instant oatmeal (various flavorings).20
1 Lipton tea bag .04
1 Folgers classic roast coffee single .16
1 envelop Lipton spiced apple cider mix .19
1 Nutrigrain blueberry cereal bar .31

Mailed February 7, 2009, to Bagram, 4 boxes
Boxes 7 and 8 both had 9 Valentines bags as above in them, #7 had 4 issues of Imprimis and #8 had last year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, and extra tea bags.

Box 8, 12x12, insured $99.85, postage $14.10
1 Combined Light gun for their Nintendo Wii (from Enterprise via Hong Kong, looks like an assault rifle)
1 Perfect Shot gun for the Wii (from Enterprise via Best Buy, looks like an automatic pistol)
4 Valentine bags as above
1 TV series boxed set: Third Rock from the Sun, Season 6
Box with 90 individual wet wipes for cleaning eyeglasses (bought at Lens Crafters)
9 packs 14 Orbit spearmint sugarless gum
left overs: 2 envelops oatmeal, 7 chocolate cherries
3 magazines (1 sports illustrated, 2 weekly standard)
8 newsletters (7 Billy Graham, 1 Imprimis)

Box 9, 8x 11 1/2, valued $44.47, postage $10.35 (Doing my spring cleaning early)
2 canisters shaving gel (last of Enterprise’s from last spring)
5 bath bars Dove soap
1 travel baking soda toothpaste
3 books:
Red Storm Rising (Tom Clancey)
2 Reader’s Digest books with condensed Bad Blood, Long Walk Home, Blue Zone, Iris and ?, and No Time for Goodbye, I heard that Song Before, Daddy’s Girl, and Thunder Bay.
Box with 90 wet wipes for eyeglasses (got at Lens Crafters)
2 sheets of 10 irridescent American flag stickers
1 freebie pen
baggie with samples cream and scratcher perfume samples
12 magazines (8 Decision, 1 Beretta, 1 Cabella’s, 1 Westways, 1 Bottom Line)

[SENClander]

As requested, Patty —

Two boxes, each with the same contents:

1 1 pound heart shaped box of Russell Stover chocolates
1 box of valentine sugar cookies
1 bag of heart shaped cherry Luvpops
1 bag cherry Tootsie pops
1 bag fun size M&M valentine packs
1 bag Brach’s conversation heart packs
1 bag Nestle Crunch valentine packs
1 musical Valentine card

[patriciaruth]

:-D

Great! Thanks!!

[Kitty Mittens]

Great News: Praises and thank yous to our Heavenly Father for the news that daybreakcoming is now in remission after a year of chemo and radiation.

That's Excellent News, Dear Patty, and my Heart is Praising and Thanking our Savior with you!

[PGalt]

FR’s finest support America’s finest...the finest men & women the rest of the world may never know! Thanks to all. BUMP FOR ALL!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Big bump for ya!

[patriciaruth]

Wonderful to hear from you, and thank you for any prayers you said for Rafael and his unit. :-D

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks so much, Patricia.

Good to see you, too!

And may God bless and guide Rafael and his unit.

[patriciaruth]

Just yesterday we got the new APO for our new contact at FOB Falcon near Baghdad, so I sent out the Valentine’s boxes that were waiting for the name.

Thanks to jtill and manna for their significant help with the cost.

Mailed February 11, 2009, to FOB Falcon, 3 boxes 12x12
Boxes 1 and 2, each value $37.95, each postage $11.95, have same contents:
4 packs Orbit 14 spearmint sugarless gum
9 Valentine decorated cellophane bags tied with pink polka dot ribbon, each with
1 small red heart box with 3 Russell Stover chocolates
1 Quaker instant oatmeal (various flavors)
1 Nutrigrain blueberry cereal bar
1 regular size Snickers almond bar
2 Swiss Miss hot chocolate envelops
1 Lipton hot spiced apple cider mix
1 Sun Maid mini box of raisins
In a baggie:
1 Taster’s Choice freeze dried coffee single
1 Cremora single packet
2 packets sugar
1 Lipton’s teabag
In another baggie:
3/4 oz pecan halves
3/4 oz banana chips
1 Cello chocolate covered cherry, foil wrapped

Box 3, value $41.70, postage $11.95
4 packs Orbit 14 sugarless spearmint gum
6 Valentine bags with contents above
1 DVD movie: Into the Night (Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer)
2 boxes 12 Little Debbie fudge brownies
Extra leftovers:
6 Quaker instant oatmeal envelops, original flavor
12 Lipton spiced apple cider mix envelops
4 SunMaid mini boxes raisins

[patriciaruth]

Ooops!

Forgot to add that the Valentine bags also had a pkg of Manchuen soup noodles (chicken flavoring), at 16 cents each the total value of the first two boxes to FOB Falcon goes up to $39.39, and the third box value rises to $42.66.

Maybe with this display of accounting accuracy, maybe I’ll get appointed to the cabinet now....

[iceskater]

You can only get appointed to the cabinet if you failed to pay your income taxes. ;-)

[patriciaruth]

Don’t have much taxable income, so my calculations are easy.

We’ll take the rest of this discussion to a more appropriate thread. :-)