CHRISTMAS Tips & Ideas for our Troops
This year will be a lean Christmas for many Americans, but here are some ideas and tips for sending packages, gift cards or Christmas cards to our brave military men and women here and abroad in case you’d like to share some thoughts, packages or cheer!
Stay safe out there, Bill & Janet Liebsch info@fedhealth.net
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Important dates to remember … First-class and priority mail for service members stationed overseas should be sent by Dec. 4 for arrival by Christmas. The deadline for parcel airlift mail is Dec. 1, and space-available mail should be sent by Nov. 21.
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Operation USO Care Package enables the public to sponsor a care package and including a personal message to deployed troops around the world. For every $25 donation you make, the USO will send a care package with both needed and requested items valued at approximately $75 to a deployed service member. http://www.uso.org/oucp To donate by phone, call 1-800-876-7469
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Red Cross’ "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program solicits cards for the military and their family. Holiday cards are collected through a unique P.O. Box address from Nov 2 through Dec 7. Once the cards arrive, they are sorted and reviewed by volunteers who then distribute them to service members, their families and veterans in communities across the country. If you are interested in participating, send cards to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
For more info (including a list of DO’s & DON’Ts), go to www.redcross.org/holidaymail
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Friends and family of military overseas can send a gift certificate from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), one-shop shops for military personnel worldwide that stock all sort of goods. DON'T KNOW A PERSON TO SEND A GIFT CARD TO? AAFES has links to nonprofits like Red Cross and others who will distribute your Gift Card(s) to military personnel deployed in support of ongoing military operations .. or personnel wounded in action and those seriously ill being treated in military hospitals in the U.S. and overseas. https://shop.aafes.com/gcs/default.aspx
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Soldiers’ Angels helps fund a variety of programs. Scroll down on home page to find a list of year-round projects and teams that can help.
http://www.soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php
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Operation Military Pride has an "adopt a soldier" program where any interested person can request the name of a military person overseas along with their wish list. http://operationmilitarypride.org/about.html ~~~~~ Let’s Say Thanks is a free service provided by Xerox where people can send messages to U.S. troops stationed around the world. Check out http://www.letssaythanks.com