Posted on 01/21/2006 3:06:06 PM PST by patriciaruth
Welcome to the 2006 thread of the Merry Band of Patriots!
Our grassroots, volunteer group of troop supporters has been sending care packages to servicemen and women in war zones since the summer of 2001 when we began by sending VHS movies and Snickers candy bars to the 101st Airborne and then later the 10th Mountain at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo.
This last year we sent a couple hundred care packages to troops at Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Tal Afar in Iraq, at Bagram in Afghanistan, at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and to our wounded at Landstuhl Regional Hospital in Germany.
Our specialty in the past has been movies, books, snacks, holiday decorations and some appliances like DVD players and Playstations, and we have sent hundreds of movies to various bases.
This last year we had 6 main projects in addition to the usual care packages:
1. We sent over 80 state-of-the-art Petzl headlamps to our adopted company of Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Mosul and 35 to an MI unit at Kirkuk. This was probably the most appreciated item we've ever sent, thanks to a project that got off the ground due to the work of Spanaway Lori, HannaUSA , and Oatka and 3/4th of which was funded by my optometrist.
2. There was the Personal Care items "Emergency" Airlift to Bagram air base in June and July. (mathluv, nina0113, Coop, JustAmy, airborne, iceskater, Tunehead54, jtill participated.)
3. The 4th of July Party Decorations and Snacks blowout for all our adopted units. (pictures at posts 357, 358, 368 of our 2005 thread)
4. Operation Popcorn in August and September for the Engineers at Baghdad (iceskater, mathluv, SENClander, Coop, Abigail Adams, Ros42, Ican'tbelieve it, jtill and ebay's mshoponline sent over 600 bags of microwave popcorn, while omegatoo's were lost in the shuffle of her evacuating New Orleans prior to the Katrina flooding)
5. The End of Summer Luau for psyops at Baghdad in September and October (MJY1288 mailed off the party things we bought at eBay and Amazon with contributions from fanfan, kattracks, jtill, Just mythoughts, Ros42, Pig Rigger, MJY1288 and Kitty Mittens. Pictures at post 809 of the 2005 thread)
6. Halloween candy and movies for the Troops (kattracks, SENClander, Ican'tbelieveit, Abigail Adams mailed boxes in addition to the ones I sent with donations)
7. The Amazing Christmas and New Years Deluge, when it rained packages at all our adopted bases, especially at Tal Afar.
Special mentions go to Teams captains: mathluv (Engineers Baghdad), Ros42 (psyops Baghdad), CAluvdubya (Tal Afar), Abigail Adams (Stryker at Mosul), VeniVidiVici (MI at Kirkuk), nina0113 (Bagram, Afghanistan). Fairy Godmother Dept. (kattracks), Christmas Trees and Christmas Cards R Us (daybreakcoming), Shipping Dept (MJY1288), DVD Recording Dept (MJY1288), Webhosting and Photoshopping Dept (New Perspective), Daddy Warbucks Dept (my optometrist).
Among the many care packages sent by our troop supporters are these projects.
Boxes of school supplies for Iraqi children were sent by mathluv, Ican'tbelieveit, and my mother to Operation Crayon in Kirkuk.
Some members (CAluvdubya, angelsonmyside, 4integrity, ebay's susiemck) helped fill requests for Western Movies from an MI unit at Kirkuk (now home, movies still there) and Clint Eastwood and Adam Sandler movies from Fox Battery at Kirkuk (now home, movies still there).
bjcintennesse made many dozens of cooling neck scarves and sent them to pysops and Engineers at Baghdad.
DAVEY CROCKETT mailed boxesful of car magazines to a couple units.
A copy of the hardback book about the first year of the Revolutionary War (1776 by David McCullough) was sent to most of our units by DrDeb, iceskater, SwatTeam, and Just a Cowgirl.
Ros42 and mscht adopted a unit at Camp Ramadi for Christmas. (picture at 1195 of the 2005 thread).
CheneyChick and daybreakcoming saw to it that some care packages went to a remnant of our troops still in Kosovo.
Daybreakcoming's sister helped the staffers of the Louisiana legislature send about 8 boxes with around 32 bags of Christmas candy to Tal Afar.
Our many generous donors of checks, cash, money orders, Paypal, shopping cards, phone cards, etc are listed in the Accounting posts in our 2005 thread which can be linked from the post below.
We were surprised and emotional when we received back from our adopted units some of the items pictured below, and a big thank you to jkphoto for taking the pictures and webhosting them.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Merry Christmas to you! And thanks for brightening up our thread!
This link will take you to the above Message sent from the Battle Hard little band who are spending Christmas perched on a little mountain side in deep, brutal winter, no warm hut, no hot meals, no running water...the message is to their “Soldier’s Angels “ back at home base...
http://soldiersangelsgermany.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-message-from-afghanistan.html
It tells what they are going to do today in honor of their fallen - :o( - and what they are asking the Angels to do today at 1500 Zulu (1000 AM EST -) [NOTE: the letter gives 1500 zulu (Military) as 1000 AM EST, - but the conversion charts show it as 3:00 PM EST?]
Anyway, they also say they will be emailing the Angels later tonight with photos of their tribute -
Check out post 2162 about a unit in Afghanistan that would appreciate care packages of survival foods.
And here’s an email from STRYKER at Baqubah!
I want to say thank you for all the support you and all the supporters have done for [our unit] over the last few months. I want to apologize for not contacting you as of lately, as there has been a lot going on here in Baquba. All the Soldiers love when we receive packages and we are really thankful that you send lots of goods that the Soldiers look forward to getting. The Christmas tree we received was the main attraction at the JCOP and our 1SG loved it. I hope the new year finds your family well and I hope to hear from you soon.
I know you don’t get to see what the Soldiers of [our unit] do on a daily basis, but ...there is a video made by combat reporters from ... late November.
LT
***
Any volunteers for sending a box of Valentine candy or other goodies to Stryker?
BTTT!
Here’s the latest going today to INPTT in Baghdad. I was thinking Super Bowl when I bought the goodies (most from Sam’s Club).
Box 1:
2 jars Pub Mix
2 bags roasted peanuts
1 24 oz bag tortilla chips
2 12-1/4 oz bags Tostitos scoops
2 14-3/4 oz bags Fritos scoops
1 bag Cajun peanuts
1 container chili-lime peanuts
1 toy football
1 party tape “Tailgate Zone”
2 packs NFL teams napkins
2 packs NFL teams plates
2 decks NFL playing cards — Patriots and Cowboys
3 boxes (10 ea) Country Time on-the-go lemonade
2 DVD’s — “Invincible” and “Remember the Titans”
Box 2:
2 large containers chunky salsa
6 packs Hickory Farms beef snack sticks
2 small bottles hot sauce
1 beef summer sausage
Box 3:
4 containers salsa con queso
2 small bottles hot sauce
10 packs Pop-Smart popcorn
3 beef summer sausages
Box 4:
1 large container Poppycock
2 snack pack trays (different mixes of nuts, pretzels, etc)
2 beef summer sausage party trays (with crackers & mustard)
10 packs Pop-Smart popcorn
1 container dry roasted walnuts
4 packs of pocket Kleenex (used as stuffers)
Terrific goodies, SENClander!!
I was tied up (all Friday night) in ER with Mom and sitting with her in hospital till late Saturday when she was discharged.
She’s OK (thank you, Heavenly Father!) and so glad to be home as am I. We all passed out today trying to catch up on sleep.
I won’t be getting things for next packages till Tues or Weds., so I emailed Stryker at Baqubah for requests. I could only get Mom out of hospital Saturday by promising to bring her to her doc on Monday/Tuesday, so I’ll be tied up till midweek.
I may try to make a quick run to Smart n Final tomorrow or Tues. to get some boxes of Snickers Marathon bars for Battle Company near Paki border in Afghanistan. The living room has four big boxes of Christmas stuff 3/4 packed, which I was in middle of when Mom got sick.
I know how tiring sitting in a hospital can be, Patty. I’m glad your mom is OK. Take care of YOU.
It has been quiet here. Hope everything is OK with you, Patty.
Today I mailed some Valentine goodies to the NPTT unit in Baghdad.
Box 1:
2 tins of chocolate hazelnut piroulines
4 boxes of Pepperidge Farm Golden Orchard cookies
4 1# bags of Jack Link’s beef jerky
2 bags fun size M&M’s
2 bags Dove dark chocolates
5 boxes (10 ea.) Crystal Light on-the-go drink mix
1 DVD collection “Love is War” including: “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Down With Love,” and “War of the Roses”
Box 2:
1 4# bag gourmet jelly beans
1 box Whitman’s Sampler
2 bags Hershey’s miniatures
16 packs Extra bubblegum
10 packs Big Red gum
6 packs Dentyne “Fire” gum
Patty, I hope you and your mother are doing okay! :-)
In early December we sent care packages to maine-iac7’s grandson in Battle Company on the Pakistan border of Afghanistan:
5 boxes of Hickory Farms cheeses (with 37.5 oz of cheese in each) which was funded by Enterprise and patriciaruth
17 packages with 1/2 lb of beef jerky sent by Godsoloved...Hegave, and
a box with 14 Hickory Farms 14 oz beef sausages funded by cshnorthcarolina
Maine-iac7 reports an email from her grandson:
“We ate all of that cheese and meat, it was amazing. We really pushed through all of it fast. awesome. I can’t find the box to tell who sent it - if you know, PLEASE thank them and let them know how great it was! Best food in some time! It means a lot to us that people back home know we are here. We;re so isolated that it really is awesome to know. It means a lot to all of us.”
Mailed yesterday, February 4, 1 box to HHC NPTT in Baghdad:
2 20-oz bags of Hershey Kisses
2 20-oz bags of Reeses Miniatures
2 20-oz bags of Hershey Miniatures
1 16-oz bag of Hearts Chocolate Mix
:-)
Got a box off to Afghanistan today, but I realized I had not done an inventory AFTER I taped it, so, to the best of my recollection, there were:
Nestle Crunch hearts
Reese’s peanut butter hearts
Gummy hearts
Individual packs of those little conversation hearts, which I personally hate, but they’re TRADITION.
A couple different flavors of Hershey Kisses
A card
Total was 17 pounds, which costs $14 to mail from the East Coast. Maybe it’ll get there in time, if not, it’ll be pretty close.
Thanks so much to you three for sending out the great care packages to our troops for Valentines!
Yesterday I also sent a package to HHC of NPTT, and a couple on Saturday to Balad. The week before 8 went to Stryker at Baqubah and 1 to Battle Company in Afghanistan.
I’m tied up today with my husband’s birthday and my Mom has been requiring more time. So I am very grateful for your efforts for our adopted soldiers.
I sent DVDs of the Super Bowl, halftime show and the “Best of Super Bowl Commercials” show to Camp Liberty, Bagram and FOB Warhorse Tuesday. Hope all is well with you, Patriciaruth!
That’s so cool!
I’m posting the ACCOUNTING for 2007 tonight (if Mother doesn’t fall apart again), and hopefully the 2008 thread this weekend.
I’ve sent a bunch of boxes out, which I’ll report on the 2008 thread.
ACCOUNTING for 2007:
This accounting is mostly of the cost of care packages that I personally mailed or ordered to have mailed via a supplier. Some donors sent me goods to mail, and I also ordered some goods mailed to others for them to put in a care package and mail for me.
This is not an accounting of care packages mailed by other members of the Merry Band of Patriots.
Miscellaneous expenses (strapping tape, gas, etc) are not counted.
ACCOUNTING January through June 2007
RECEIPTS (Jan-June 2007):
Monetary donations (checks, cash, and Paypal): $1549 minus Paypal fees of $6.12 =
TOTAL net: $1543.67
(from jtill, mother, jtill, Ros42, jtill, junkmonks (vendor at another website), PigRigger, my mother, jtill, airborne, jtill, Kitty Mittens, mother, norton, MEG33, jtill, airborne, SwatTeam, jtill)
Goods received Jan-June 2007 from donors, which were then put in packages I mailed. The value of these donated goods was subtracted from the total value of the packages I mailed:
1. TV series boxed sets: Smallville 1-5 (from jtill) value $144.99, which I mailed to FOB Stryker
2. Nintendo Wii and accessories and 150 bags microwave popcorn from my optometrist which I mailed to FOB Stryker (I paid for postage and 4 boxes of On The Go drink mix singles.)
3. Sample tubes toothpaste 72 + 72 + 24 from my dentist, which I mailed to Bagram (valued at 75 cents each)
4. a DVD of first two episodes of TV series (from SW6906) valued at $1 which I mailed to FOB Stryker
5. TV series boxed sets: Scrubs, seasons 1&2 from SwatTeam, value $70.98, which I mailed to NPTT at Camp Liberty at Baghdad.
EXPENDITURES (Jan-June 2007):
Credit Card Expenses: Total =$137.85
Feb 7: Amazon Marketplace $125.53 for TV series boxed sets of Smallville, seasons 1-4 sent to iceskater who mailed them to NPTT at FOB Falcon
January: Amazon $12.32 for book Radical Son, sent to SW6906 who will mail it to Stryker
Care Package Expenditures: $3966.22
Goods I bought for the care packages: $3296.87
Postage to mail care packages: $669.35
Detail: Postage: Bagram 232.20, NPTT at Camp Liberty 20.05, NPTT at Camp Falcon 94.00, FOB Stryker 311.70, FOB Prosperity 11.40 = 669.35
Value Goods I bought: BAGRAM 1221.69 , NPTT at Camp Liberty 202.64, NPTT at Camp Falcon 692.14 , FOB Stryker 1042.37, FOB Prosperity (Baghdad) 138.03= 3296.87
TOTAL EXPENDITURES (Jan-June 2007):
$4104.07
*******
ACCOUNTING for JULY 2007 through SEPTEMBER 2007:
RECEIPTS:
Monetary contributions (checks, cash and Paypal): $690.00 – Paypal fees of $7.73
Net Monetary contributions =$682.27
(from SwatTeam, jtill, manna, Tunehead54, my mother, PigRigger, Ros42, jtill, manna, my mother, jtill, manna)
Value of goods donated (value subtracted from value of packages they were sent in):
Wii classic controller $17.99 donated by SwatTeam, which I mailed to FOB Stryker
Resident Evil 4 Wii game $29.99 donated by SwatTeam, which I mailed to FOB Stryker
*******
EXPENDITURES July – September 2007:
Credit Cards: $282.00 for 11 headlamps purchased from Petzl America, 10 were sent directly to NPTT at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, on 9/28/07, and one was sent to me to be placed in a box I sent to HHC of NPTT at Baghdad
CARE Packages: $1140.01
Postage: Bagram 38.00, FOB Stryker 76.20, NPTT at Camp Liberty 98.45, HHC of NPTT 11.00=
Total $223.65
Value: Bagram 349.23, FOB Stryker 411.64, NPTT at Camp Liberty 58.45, HHC of NPTT 97.04= Total $916.36
TOTAL EXPENDITURES (July – Sept 2007):
$1422.01
******
ACCOUNTING October through December 2007:
RECEIPTS in money orders, checks, cash, and Paypal =$1410 – Paypal fees $5.98 = TOTAL receipts: $1404.02
(from Enterprise, jtill, manna, MEG33, SwatTeam, norton, manna, PigRigger, jtill, Kitty Mittens, Enterprise, MEG33, Icantbelieveit, manna, Enterprise, my mother, jtill, Kitty Mittens, cshnorthcarolina)
EXPENDITURES (Oct-Dec 2007):
Credit Card Expenditures (goods mailed direct to soldiers by supplier): $823.66
November 13, $236.58 Petzl America mailed 10 headlamps to HHC of NPTT
November 19, $426.63 Petzl America mailed 18 headlamps to Stryker at Baqubah
December 8, $160.45 Hickory Farms mailed 5 boxes of cheese to Battle Company
Care Package Expenditures: $2154.62
Value of goods I mailed minus value of donated goods: $1842.42
Postage cost: $312.20
Goods I mailed: Stryker 638.46, Bagram 425.74, Battle Company 130.10, HHC NPTT 248.99, NPTT 192.03, Balad 207.10 =1842.42
Postage: Stryker 116.75, Bagram 49.40, Battle Company 20.35, HHC NPTT 74.40, NPTT 11.40, Balad 39.90 = $312.20
TOTAL EXPENDITURES (Oct – Dec 2007)
$2978.28
****
Contents of boxes mailed were posted as they were mailed out and can be found by scrolling back on this thread.
Thanks for the ping and all that you have done, patriciaruth! America’s finest BUMP!
In our memories and in our prayers:
KIA in 2007:
1st BN, 38th INF Reg, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team-2nd ID
11/18/2007
Jason T. Lee
Marius L. Ferrero
Christopher J. Nelson
died from a suicide bomber at Ba’qubah
7/1/2007
Victor A. Garcia — died from hostile small arms fire, Baghdad (southern part)
5/28/2007
Thomas M. McFall
Junior Cedeno Sanchez
died from IED attack, Baghdad (southern part)
5/10/2007 Anthony J. Sausto – died from hostile small arms fire, Baghdad (southern part)
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