How to Send Care Packages to Troops Overseas

Care packages for troops on duty overseas are not only needed, but are still the best way to 'thank you'. While most basic needs of troops are already provided for, there are always certain items that are in short supply.

For example, prepaid phone cards are the best and most useful things to send troops overseas, according to the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, whose phone campaign is called Help Our Troops Call Home. Prepaid phone cards can be sent to individual troops or to any troop via a service such as the American Red Cross. As well as phone cards, send a batch of blank greeting cards, so that troops can remember loved ones back home.

Food and beverage items that remind troops of the tastes and smells of home are always cherished. Small individually packaged items such as instant coffee, hot chocolate packets, and sugar packets, are always needed. Instant food items such as breakfast foods, instant soup mixes, and ready-to-eat meals and salad kits, are ideal. Also, individual packs of snacks, such as chips, peanuts, pretzels, cereal and granola bars, brownies, cakes, candy and gum. Chocolate items are a bad idea, because chocolate melts.

Personal items, such as T-shirts, hats and gloves, flip flops or shower shoes, and shoe polish are great.

Other items such as sunscreen and lotion and wrap around sunglasses are vitally important as many troops are stationed in very hot areas. Other hygiene items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, Band-Aids.

Entertainment is a luxury that troops need. Send items such as movies DVDs and music CDs, magazines, handheld electronic games, and playing cards.

But most of all, send cash. In this post-911 world some items may have difficulty getting through and the military's supply system is already overloaded. Sending cash, while less personal, is often quicker and more practical. A quick Internet search will bring up websites with lots of information on how to send cash or packages to troops overseas.

Dylan Miles, journalist, and website builder, lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.militarylife.info on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

Connecting With Our Armed Forces

In the light of our proud soldiers that are stationed throughout the world to protect our freedoms, a strategy has been put in place for them to text message home. Our soldiers find themselves having a lack of communications with friends and family here in the United States. They have a right to be able to share with their loved ones, what they choose to share on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. As a matter of fact speaking from personal experience it is darn right impossible to stay in contact with everyone monthly let alone weekly.

As of right now our Troops have 3 typical ways of communication with us: phone calls, bulk e-mails, and letters. Typically, the soldiers are looking to call their family members but not their friends. Friends usually get the emails and the letters. However, this is not a daily occurrence you might get a phone call once every 3 -5 days, or an email or letter once a month. Following the war and our efforts to help our troops it has been noticed that there has been an evolving effort to donate computers to soldier sites and bases.

The idea for soldiers to be able to text message our cell phones from any computer in the world that has internet access, is a proactive form of communication. The program is simple and quick for our troops to use. It allows troops to upload cell phone numbers to a secure database and then take those cell phone numbers and break them down into groups (i.e friends 1, family, and friends 2...). Once they are broken down into groups they are free to send out as many messages as they want. They may chose to send messages to a whole group, their whole phone list, or individual numbers. The convenience of this service is unbelievable because now it will actually feel like that soldier is involved of our daily lives. We could be driving down the street and receive a text message. As a matter of fact we could receive a text message in the morning, afternoon, and night.

This service was built to cater to the troops, families, and friends. Someone can sign any person in the Armed Forces up for this program, all you have to do is give them their user name and password and their service will be up and running. Though the service is not free we will be donating $1.99 to 3 different Non-For-Profit organizations a month. Most likely one (1) of our donations will go to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the other two will be for supporting our active troops.

To learn more about the service please visit our website at http://www.soldiertext.com Please feel free to call us about this service we would love to answer your questions.

Nicholas P. Bruett