The military who have been shipped overseas
face very difficult conditions, and are much in
need of moral support, regardless of political
perspective on the war, which will
naturally vary widely amongst us as individuals.

If you would like to help bolster the troops,
packages may be sent to soldiers
via US priority mail at the same rates
as domestic mail. Using the new
'flat rate' package, you can
cram a large box full of goodies
without regard to weight, and ship to
a lonely soldier overseas for just $7.70.

A few things to remember:
Don't ship food items and toiletry items in the same
box. No matter how well wrapped these items are,
the cookies and candies will often end up smelling
like soap. You'll need to prepare a detailed customs
shipping form for all packages over 1 lb., to include
the weight, qty., and description of all contents. If
the package weighs under 4 lbs., you can use the
small form 2976-A, otherwise use form 2976. Both
forms can be prepared online:
http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/

Warehouse stores such as CostCo and Sam's Club are
excellent places to shop for soldiers. Favorite items to
be found here include beef jerky, new release books,
DVD's and music, toiletries, and misc. snack packages.

For details, instructions on what to send, what not to send,
addresses and more, visit:

http://www.anysoldier.com

Some soldiers have been living in very unpleasant
conditions for a long time and have yet to receive
a package from home! It can be a lot of fun to
shop for useful items, comfort foods, music, DVD's
and reading material to share with the soldiers,
and to see how much you can jam into a flat rate
box!

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InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

I think that this is a fantastic idea, and a really good way of giving sincere thanks for the freedoms we have and often take for granted.

I want to mention, in case anyone wants to send something but isn't sure what, that books are like gold. One of the biggest problems our soldiers face anywhere in the world is boredom. They must be ready to act on a moments notice, and that is really hard to do if they are bored. Reading material really helps with this. In most places overseas, soldiers can't even buy books in English.

I think there is a place for short term personal contributions to soldiers who've served or are serving, or disaster victims. But neither case do I think is "enough" with such giving. It is good to have individual involvement in situations like this, there is a refreshing purity of goodness in such work - but both need sustained work, with followup and evaluation on effectiveness and needs assesments for adaptive responce to needs as they change. I wish I could be proud of the way my taxes help those suffering from disasters and the soldiers rather than hearing of wasted money or slow responses or homeless soldiers or large numbers of soldiers suffering from neglect of treating their diseases. I'm not conditioning what individuals can and should do UNTIL things are done right systematically, instutionally, but without proper systematic, institutional, support such giving cannot solve problems they face.

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Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart!
They that believe in vain thoughts forsake their own mercy.

I oppose Bush-Blair's War on Iraq but I support and sympathise with our American and British soldiers who are dying for the ego of Bush. I would like to support the lads. Being in Ireland I am out of touch with organisations in America and Britain. Do you know of any similar support organisations in the British Isles or can I contribute to the Americans directly?

Amergin

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Militant Agnostic: I don't know, and neither do you. There is no evidence of God so belief is optional.

I clicked on the link you supplied and found that I can donate on line.

Amergin

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Militant Agnostic: I don't know, and neither do you. There is no evidence of God so belief is optional.

Thank you Amergin. Thank you for reaching out. I feel the same as you. But my son is in Irag as we speak and he told me that there is another side of the story, that which we don't see. My son hates war, but he feels that he is there to bring peace. He says that the people over there are so nice to our soldiers and thank them for being there. When you hear the stories of love that are not told on the news, you know that God has his hands in this too.

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May your awareness be perfection

I also wanted to add that another source where you can help is the Red Cross, which is global, even though it is based in the US. If you donate to the red cross, though, be sure to be very specific about where you want the donation to go.

It's interesting...I have family and friends serving in Iraq, in various areas, and almost universally they say that the food they get is top notch, lots of it, and lots of variety, that they have the supplies and aminities they need, but what they miss more than anything else is emails, mails, and books. A paperback, even a poor one, is like gold over there, and the emails and mails remind them that there is a home to come back to. Most of them fully support our presence and involvement there, but they definitely do at times get lonely. Getting an email from someone who just tells them thank you for what you are doing, and we care, makes all kinds of difference to them.

I agree Rev. Rex. That is also what my son asks for. He can buy pretty much anything he wants, if not already supplied by the Army. He looks forward to receiving mail. I also got him 4 different subscriptions fro magazines of his choice, which I forward to him. They are like a family over there and evrything is shared and passed on to others, so it does not matter who you send something to, it will be passed on to many.

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May your awareness be perfection