Care Package Tips
PERMISSABLE ITEMS FOR MILITARY SUPPORT PACKAGES
Drinks:
" Instant Coffee
" Powdered Gatorade
" Plastic Jug to mix powdered
drinks
" Powdered hot
chocolate
" Kool-Aid, pre-sweetened
" Tea bags
" Country Time Lemonade Mix
Snacks:
" Tuna in the "fresh
pouch"
" Crackers
" Easy Spray Cheese
" Slim Jim's
" Triscuit and Ritz crackers are
great
" Potted meat and crackers
" Plastic knives for spreading
Plastic Spoons for eating
" Single servings of bagged
chips - The small bags stay fresh longer
" Cookies
" Candy - M & M's, hard
candy - anything that won't melt
" Little Debbie snack cakes
" Graham crackers
" Gobstoppers Jaw Breaker Candy
" Little Debbie Cakes
" Chocolate-dipped pretzels
" Pre-packaged brownies
" Licorice
" Bubble gum
" Snack mixes- Chex Mix,
Gardetto's
" Cashews, peanuts, etc
" Pretzels
" Rice Krispie Treats
" Goldfish crackers
" Applesauce, pudding or fruit
cups with the pop-off lids
" Raisins and trail mix in
several small Zip Lock bags for sharing
Non-Microwave
Meals:
" Non-microwave meals have some
hot meals listed that require access to boiling water - i.e. a coffee pot -
most people do have access to one or to some sort of electricity or camp fire.
You can send them a one cup coffee maker - they're very small and worth it!
" Cup 'o Noodles soups (made with hot water)
" Dry cereal the small,
individual serving boxes stay very fresh
" Bowl Appetite dinners (made
with hot water)
" Instant oatmeal or grits (Made
with hot water)
" Breakfast bars Granola, cereal
and power bars
" Pop tarts
" I've discovered that there is
an enormous number of different soup mixes available that they can just add hot
water to.
Microwave/Campfire
Meals:
" Campbell's Chunky Soup - They
have pop-top lids They're perfect and they can even be eaten out of the can if
the line at the microwave is just too long :)
" Pasta Anytime dinners
" Dinty Moore Dinners
" Kraft has a line of Mac &
Cheese Dinners
" If you send more than one
package a month
" Microwave Popcorn - Send quite
a few of these, because it gets passed around
" Small Cup Microwave Dinners
Toiletries:
" Clorox Wipes
" Razors & Shaving Cream
" Foot Powder
" Shampoo, Conditioner &
comb
" After Shave & Body Lotion
" Soap or Body Wash
" Mouth Wash
" Deodorant
"
Comfort Needs:
" Gel Insoles
" Foot powder
" T-shirts, underwear and socks
MONTHLY-trust me, they'll need them
" Sachets for their lockers to
keep clothes smelling like home
" Glade Stick-Ups These are easy
to hang in their racks
" Blanket from home
" A good sheet set
" A big fluffy towel
" An egg crate mattress pad
Those racks are thin and not very comfortable
" Small bottle of Febreeze It
helps to spray down the bedding once in a while
" Toilet paper
" A small battery operated fan
" Baby wipes are good for fast,
easy clean-ups
" Eye drops
" Sneaker Balls--they're like
sachets for your shoes
Sundries & General Goods & Ideas:
"
Board games-the ones they have made into key chains They're small, light and
just as fun as the full size versions
" Use your computer to print
onto magnetic paper They can put these directly onto their racks
" Send favorite magazines
" Disposable cameras They can
take pictures then mail them home for you to develop
" A Walkman with extra batteries
" With a CD burner, make a CD of
favorite songs You can also make a cassette tape
" Always write letters, but in
addition you might record your letters onto a tape (or onto the computer to
make a CD)
" Send a few toys Slinky,
sidewalk chalk, squirt guns, etc.
" Theme packages Make it all one
color scheme with ribbon and confetti
" Send electronic games There
are some little games that are about $10 each
" Make your own custom crossword
puzzle!
" Go here - http://wwwpdoslcsmitedu/cgi-bin/theme-cword - and follow the directions to print
out a crossword puzzle using your own words they'll love it
" Use small baby food jars and
fill them up with dirt from their backyard. You could also put sand from their
favorite beach with a shell inside It's oddly
comforting
" Two words - Silly Putty. They
love it and it considered a premium
" Use your computer graphics
program to create a cool calendar with magnetic dots that they can use to mark
important days (like homecoming!) and print on magnetic paper
" GameBoy Color (a handheld
video game system) is $69 at most stores (although buying online with coupons
you can get it for even less) and the games are $10-$30 each There are some
great games, and the guys can trade when they get tired of playing
" Books on tape are nice, or for
an avid reader send small paperback books that they can give away when they're
done That way they're not having to store it
" If they're gone over their
birthday, send a birthday box with streamers, hats, noise makers, a birthday
card, and a birthday cookie decorated with icing (refer to the Tips section on
how to ship cookies!) Record yourself and the kids singing Happy Birthday and
of course, decorate the outside of the box with birthday stickers :)
" Foam footballs and basketballs, the miniature size.
These will get played with all the time by the whole platoon
" A Frisbee The flexible ones
are best
" A hacky sack (a little bean
bag for kicking around)
" I found a keychain version of
the Super Soaker squirt guns it shoots 20ft away! They really work and they'd
be great to take to work, since they fit in a pocket
" Very carefully open a box of
Cracker Jacks and remove the prize Put your own prize in the box (use the prize
somewhere else in your care package) Put in a little note or a bigger
prize--maybe something personal that only your marine would understand Then
carefully seal up the box so they don't see that you've tampered with it Craft
glue works best
" A small stack of Dixie cups
" A small battery operated light
with a clip
" Dryer sheets, in a Zip Lock
bag They can use them in their lockers to help things smell fresh, or they can
rub them over their clothes before they go out It's just a nice thing to have
" Send
" If they didn't take one with
them, send a cordless electric razor The best ones have the option of using
them corded, in case the charge runs out It will make life so much easier
" Sun block
" A small sewing kit
" A stain remover stick (Shout
makes a good stick)
" A stress ball
" CD/DVD disk cleaning kit,
since the players and the disks will get a lot of use
" Stamps, paper and envelopes
" 5 padded mailing envelopes,
just in case they need to send home
" Eyeglass cleaner wipes
" If you send store bought
cookies like Oreos, something that cracks easy, take them out of their package
and pack them loose in plain popped popcorn. The popcorn takes the shock of
traveling and the cookies get there in great shape.
" I recommend sending packages
Priority Mail It does help to get it there faster Priority mail will get it
across country and into the hands of the FPO workers faster, and the FPO people
respond quicker to Priority mail packages (maybe because they stand out more,
who knows?) It's also cheaper in a lot of cases
" Place anything that could
spill (shampoo, cologne) inside a Zip Lock bag and then tape that bag to the
inside of the box On the outside of the box, write "This Side Up" and
even though it will never stay "that side up", it will help! Taping
things to the side also helps to distribute the weight and keeps heavy things
from crushing smaller or breakable items
" A good source of boxes is the post office. Visit www.USPS.com and order free boxes, labels and
shipping tape and they will deliver it right to your door.
" When you send food of any
kind, try to send a lot more than you think they'll eat Most food gets shared
and they may not get much if you only send a single serving
" This is the most important tip
I have It takes a special skill to write a letter during deployment. Avoid
writing phrases such as "Everything is falling apart and I can't handle it
without you" or "Everything is falling apart and I don't need you any
more to fix it for me" Either of these will cause your spouse, sibling or
child terrible anxiety, and it's dangerous for them and for anyone they work
with also I know how hard it is, but I also know how important it is. No bad
news, nothing upsetting. Considering what they are going through, it is nothing
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