Are there any websites, groups we can look at that tells us how to send them?

Please, no right winger sites/groups.

I'm tired of looking at all the car ribbons saying to support our troops, though hardly any of them actually do.

You are absolutely right. I actually heard a father of a fallen soldier say the same thing on NPR and felt ashamed of my ribbon. My brother had returned and I had not done anything more in the way of actually helping anyone. I went and found this site http://soldiersangels.homestead.com/ and was linked with a Marine (who just returned home) and http://www.operationac.com/ where I was linked with a soldier. Aditionally, Operation AC has a donation program for sending AC/heaters to keep our men and women comfortable given the extremes of the weather. These are the only sites I know of, but an internet search might turn up other information.

Good luck and rock on!

FROM THE DOD WEBSITE!!!!

We appreciate your support of our Armed Forces and thinking of our troops!

Thousands of Americans are asking what they can do to show their support for servicemembers, especially those serving overseas and facing combat during this time of war. We must also remember our military families who offer much support, sacrifice so much and cope with long deployments of their loved ones.

While it would be inappropriate for DoD to endorse any organization specifically, servicemembers do value and appreciate such expressions of support:

We have a web site that has collected information about a number of the programs our fellow citizens have undertaken on behalf of the troops. It is called“American Supports You” – Our Military Men and Women, and its address on the Internet is www.americasupportsyou.mil

This web site offers you ways to send messages to the troops, and obtain materials for developing your own support program. Also, provided is a short list of organizations that will help you send messages and packages as well as provide other support.

The support and generosity of the American people has touched the lives of the more than 300,000 service members deployed overseas. Thank you for your continued prayers and support during these challenging times. United we will succeed in our cause to defeat terrorism.

Shawneedaughter had posted links to such some time back and if you did a search on her posts, I'm sure you'd find it.

Yeah, whatever happened to that pinned thread that had all the links she and I had collected? I'm too tired right now, I'll dig through my posts in the morning to track them down.

Pretty tired myself or I'd go thru Shawneedaughter's posting history to find and then re-post them.

FYI-
Helping Our Troops
USO
Operation Dear Abby

I was reading fast, but I can't find my old posts with links???

Here's one that Shawneedaughter had posted a link to earlier.

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/pages/1/index.htm

If you recall who started the thread with the links, you could look at their profile and search thru the topics they started. Might be able to find it that way.

PM Sandra, she is sponsoring a care package to the troops program.

Thanks for putting this up again, mail call is my favorite time of day.

But first I want to point you to a website that gives you the ability to help Iraqi Children and schools.....

http://www.operationican.com/ Iraqi Children Assistance Network you can click on the link and order school supplies and books in Arabic for the schools here. I am involved first hand in the distribution of these items you can rest assured that they are going to a good cause.

You can also ship items directly to my unit here in Kirkuk if you are so inclined:

ICAN Care Package
C/O SFC White // B Co 451st CA BN // Kirkuk// APO AE 09359

All the following items are easily distributable:

Soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, school supplies, medical (first aid) supplies, small toys (beeny babies, whistles, kites, etc.. etc..), hard candies, gum, sport equipment (soccer and volley balls), Playground equipment.

For large quantities of items we usually will direct the supplies to an Iraqi government agency (Dept of Health or Education).

For the soldier's here you can use the same address and label it Soldier Care Package.

Paperback Books, sports magazines, deoderants, snacks, shampoo, washclothes, things like that... No Liquor, No XXX magazines.

Peace All
SFC White

That's a great program SFC White. You should have put up this web site too so the folks here can see what the US Army is doing for Iraq. Don't be modest about making a difference in the world.

More Ways to Help our Military:
http://members.aol.com/viperash50/causes/causes.html

Great index!
Bookmarked.
Thanks!

Here is another one on a similar theme...
https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx

The 3/25 is the Ohio Unit that suffered all the casualities last week.

excerpt from email
Actions of course always ALWAYS speak louder than words. If you can find it in your day please send them a box or even a letter to just let them know we have not forgotten them and that we hold them in the highest place of honor. 3/25 will probably be in Iraq until October. It takes about two weeks for mail to get to them.

You can send all sorts of stuff like books, magazines, dvds, candy, food, etc in a simple US Postal service flat rate box for less than 8 bucks. That’s about two lattes at Starbucks. Most importantly you can also send a note or card for 37 cents and let a few American patriots know how much they mean to us.

The address for 3/25 is:

Adopt a Marine
c/o Capt Kasparian
3/25 H&S Co
Unit 72110
FPO, AE 09509-2110