Civilian Program Deploys 'Care Packages' Overseas to U.S. Troops
by Allie Martin
December 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - A project to help supply troops fighting the war on terror with "care packages" from home is gaining momentum. California-based Operation Interdependence is a civilian-to-military delivery system that allows U.S. residents to send care package shipments to platoons of up to 50 service members.Vicky Porter is a coordinator for Operation Interdependence donations from the Northeast Mississippi area. She says the monthly shipments are major morale boosters for American troops overseas, who have sent some wonderful e-mails and letters in grateful response.
"They say it's uplifting just to hear from home, first of all," Porter notes, and she says many service personnel are overwhelmed "just to know that somebody's thinking of them, with the goodie bag items as well as the notes from home."
Operation Interdependence was launched by a retired Marine who was in charge of coordinating care package deliveries to U.S. troops during the first Gulf War. Without disrupting the training or mission of U.S. fighting forces, the program allows caring friends and family to send along a gesture of love, pride and support to the troops defending America's freedom abroad.
Porter says the care packages can contain a wide variety of small, thoughtful items, from grooming aids, games, and snacks to newspaper sports clippings and magazines, along with an individual message. "In each package we send," she says, "we try to include a personal note from someone --a child, an adult -- just to give the [service member] a lift for the day."
An O.I. shipment will include a variety of items calculated to supply a small need or bring a smile to a service member's face. Porter says a typical package will contain "things like hot chocolate mixes, phone cards, travel size lotions, shampoos, and toothpaste, and that type of thing ... just a kind of goodie bag."
Operation Interdependence is encouraging more civilians to get involved in this effort to support America's deployed forces by registering as a coordinator, supplying items for care packages, or donating funds to the program.
