---------------------------------- Care Packages for Coalition Troops Audience: Everyone ---------------------------------- A fellow Tourbus rider in stationed Iraq sent me the following email earlier this week: If you could pass on to your readers that if they know somebody over here, they would enjoy receiving a care package of treats or a letter. It is great receiving something in the mail from home and friends. The key words are "know somebody." Because of security concerns, the military mail service is no longer accepting packages addressed to "any soldier" or "any service member." Some well-intentioned people have tried to bypass this new restriction by sending large quantities of packages to a single, known service member, but the Defense Logistics Agency Defense Distribution Center cautions against doing this because it "clogs the mail system and causes unnecessary delays." So, how can you support our troops in Iraq and other countries without clogging up the military mail system? Simple! Find a service member in your community who recently deployed -- chances are someone from your work, church, or school is currently stationed overseas -- and then contact that service member's family to ask if there is anything you can do for them. For example, offer to buy the family some supplies to be included in their next care package. Newsweek ran an brief article earlier this week talking about some of the more popular items among the soldiers in Iraq: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5359303/site/newsweek/ Most military families already know this next part, but before you ship ANYTHING to our troops make sure to double-check the US Postal Service's most recent list of restrictions on overseas military mail. You can find the list buried inside the latest Postal Bulletin at http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/bulletin/pb.htm The Postal Bulletin is updated every three or four weeks. Just look for "Overseas Military Mail" in the Bulletin's index. What if you don't know a service member but still want to show your support? Not to worry. The US Department of Defense has a huge "Support Our Troops" page at http://www.defendamerica.mil/support_troops.html that has links to dozens of support agencies that sponsor programs for members of the armed forces overseas. Better still, check out the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's "Gifts from the Homefront" page at http://www.aafes.com/docs/homefront.htm This page lets you purchase gift certificates that the troops can use in any military exchange retail store. You can send the gift certificates to someone you know or you can donate it to an organization like the American Red Cross or USO who will distribute your gift certificate to a random service member. I hope this helps. =====================[ Tourbus Rider Information ]=================== The Internet Tourbus - U.S. Library of Congress ISSN #1094-2238 Copyright 1995-2004, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved Subscribe, Signoff, Archives, Free Stuff and More at the Tourbus Website - http://www.TOURBUS.com ====================================================================
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