Get the popcorn ready, sit back and enjoy 4 tales of Care Packages - funny, scandalous, goofy, educational, and down and dirty. I invited 3 stars of Daily Kos, to think about Care Packages they remember. They have shared their stories.
- Possum [one of the country's premier Veterinarians who specializes in brain surgery for dogs – that always freaks me out].
- Testvet [please honor him with an endorsement for a Netroots Scholarship testvet http://democracyforamerica.com/...
- LLBear [hey, it’s my diary so I’m horning in]
- Brandon Friedman [well, I had to go for someone sexy]
- Meteor Blades [for a VERY special reason]
Before you settle back, whip out that plastic. That’s what we are here for.
Possum’s Booze
Our own Possum served in the Army in Viet Nam: "I spent one Christmas in country. The best care package ever came to me in the field that Christmas. Along with all the usual cookie crumbs (whole cookies never seemed to arrive) came a bottle of fine if very illegal Kentucky whiskey. I may not need to tell you how much joy that whiskey brought a bunch of dirty and tired grunts that day. I will never forget the total surprise of that package and the miracle of an intact arrival." {ed.’s note: DO NOT try this with anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. The penalties, if caught, are severe.}
Testvet’s Close Shave
"I got a care package during the Persian Gulf War (Gulf War One) 1990-1991. In it was a small battery powered razor. It took 2 double A batteries and cost about 15 dollars. I still have it as a momento. It kept my face smooth, didn't need water to shave nor any shaving cream, and whoever sent that little puppy had no idea how great a gift that was. As an NCO it mattered that you show by leadership, and keeping a fresh shave is a small matter, but when water is hard to come by and you want it for drinking, wasting it for shaving is a hard case to make. My handy dandy razor had everyone writing home to have their family members look for them and send them to Saudi." Mike (testvet) Bailey
ed. note: I urge you to send Mike Bailey – our own testvet http://democracyforamerica.com/... - to NetRoots Nation. If you have read his diaries, you know his fight with VA to recognize the lasting harm done to him while in the service. Very few will ever know the personal courage it took to lay it all out for the world to see. His courage has provided hope to more people than he will ever know – and he does it from a wheelchair with a bum working heart and a huge amount experience.
LLbear’s Bird’s Nests & Bird Balls:
While Possum’s cookies got crumbled, mine came intact. Mom was a legend for her cooking, and her cookies were to die for – well, let me rephrase that: they were fabulous. She made a wide variety of them, too. Every month I got a care package just a bit smaller than a trunk. Each month was an enormous tin of cookies buried in protective a wrap of various clothes [sometimes for me, sometimes for local kids]. Always, always there were some Bird’s Nests. These were delicate butter cookies coated on the outside with crushed pecans. In the center on top was a thumbprint depression filled with blackberry, raspberry, current or mint jelly. None ever broke, but every one of them melted in your mouth. Nothin’ said lovin’ like somethin’ from Mom’s oven.
Bird Balls, on the other hand, were the worst care package I ever received. College friends of mine, feeling that I certainly must be depressed if I was in the Army, thought they would make me laugh out loud. While shopping one day, Ron spied a package in the fresh meat counter. It was chopped and formed chicken rolled into tight little balls and labeled, "Bird Balls". He and Donna wrapped it, put into a small Styrofoam container, packed in some dry ice, and sent it overnight [at great expense] to me in Ft. Polk, Louisiana.
Problem was, I had moved on to USAINTS [United States Army Intelligence School – an acronym we all loved] in Baltimore, Maryland. Sometime during my first week in class I was pulled out by a Military Policeman [MP] and told to follow him.
"Yes, sir," I said, thinking there goes my chance of being the next James Bond. He drove me to the base’s Post Office, around back. There we met someone from CID [Criminal Investigative Command] who standing next to a covered plastic box. "Mr. Pierce, do you have any friends who are adamantly against the war in Viet Nam?" "Gee, Sir, I don’t know, but I don’t think so." "Ron X?" "No." "Open the box." The odor was horrible. Those damn bird balls were rancid. Worst. Care. Package. Ever!
Brandon Friedman’s Chocolate Brick in Afghanistan
I always remember when someone would send chocolate candy. Like a bag of Reese’s Pieces or something. Of course, by the time it arrived, the candy had always melted and re-hardened into single brick, so that was weird.
One other thing: I could never get enough high quality non-fiction books. There was always an overabundance of mass-market paperbacks (Dean Koontz, John Grisham, etc.), but never enough books like The Places in Between by Rory Stewart, Taliban by Ahmed Rashid, or ones similar to that. Not sure if it's still the same way or not.
A Dirty Story from Meteor Blades:
Meteor Blades, his own distinguished self, was never in the military. But all of his life he has been in service to our country. When it comes to patriots, I never met a better soldier in defense of our own democracy than him.
Here is his story of the oddest care package ever:
"I had a roommate my freshman year at the University of Colorado whose mother sent him fresh underwear - 14 pairs - every two weeks from 1000 miles away. He then sent the dirty pairs back to her so she could toss them in the laundry. Laziest guy I ever met: he flunked out in two semesters." {ed. Note: Sounds like the kid I met in Basic Training. When it came time to wash his underwear and socks, we had to show him how to operate the washer – and he was just amazed by the dryer.}
The memory of those packages stays with you forever. My great thanks to Meteor Blades, Testvet, Possum, and Brandon for sharing their stories. Prior to publishing I donated $100 to NFTT for each one of them, plus an additional $100 in memory or the world’s greatest Care Packager evah – my Mom. She would want you to dig deep, then ask your best friends to match your kind gifts. Those packages mean that much to those who get them.
Our goal for Netroots For The Troops 2009 is $50,000.00 (cash or in-kind donations).
PLEASE DONATE HERE
We realize that you would like to donate something tangible to go inside the packages that will be mailed to the troops. Unfortunately, accepting in-kind donations from individuals is not practical in terms of storage and handling of the items. The Pittsburgh Convention Center is a union shop so we have more stringent rules that need to be followed. Instead, we will only be accepting corporate donations or cash from YOU to purchase items for the care packages this year.
Here’s how YOU can help:
- Please contact TexDem or VeloVixen if you know someone who might be helpful in securing the corporate in-kind donations. To help you think of companies who could donate products, see below* for a list of potential items. Put your thinking caps on and let us hear from you. It takes time to get through the corporate processes so we need to hear from you ASAP!
- We are accepting cash from individuals and
beg ask that you DONATE HERE to contribute to this worthy cause. Your donation will enable us to purchase the things that we are unable to obtain through corporate donations, and will help to pay the costs of shipping them to our troops. This year your donations will be tax deductible, thanks to Netroots Nation and their partner Netroots Arts and Education Initiative, a California 501(c)3 corporation.
- Sign up for a diary! Our goal is to post two diaries per day until NN09. That’s a lot of diaries! Don’t worry---we’ve made it easy for you. We’ve got a template set up, and all you need to do is add a small introduction telling us why you are donating, sharing a story of someone you know who has served or is serving, or any other thing you want to share that might help motivate others to donate. Please contact VeloVixen if you are interested in posting a diary.
- Do you know a service member who would like to receive a care package? Email a request to: NFTT.request@gmail.com before July 31, 2009.
Please include all of the following information. Unfortunately we will not be able to process any incomplete requests:
Rank:
Last name:
First name:
APO Address Line 1:
APO Address Line 2:
APO Address Zip:
- Write letters to be included in the packages! Our own jlms qkw is collecting the letters and will print them out and bring them to Pittsburgh. Just email your letter to her jlms_qkw@yahoo.com. Look for more information from jlms qkw soon. If you need some ideas, rbutters wrote an excellent diary with tips on how to write letters to troops and why it’s so important to them.
- Help us assemble the packages in Pittsburgh. It's fun! More information will be forthcoming for those of you who are going to be in Pittsburgh and would like to help there.
- Please consider joining the NFTT FaceBook Group. Invite your FaceBook and non-FaceBook friends.
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*The following list contains some of the things we would like to include in the packages. Please let us know if you know someone who might be helpful in securing these corporate in-kind donations. (Please DO NOT send these items yourself! We have no way to accept them. Instead, your cash donation is the very best way to help make this happen on the ground in Pittsburgh.)
- Baby wipes
- Mechanix gloves
- Language translation books or CDs (Rosetta Stone as an example)
- LED flashlights
- Gel shoe insoles
- Goop Cleaning Gel
- Powdered energy drinks
- Gel energy food packets
- DVDs and CDs
- Letters to the soldiers
- More suggestions coming soon
Books for Soldiers
Soldiers love to receive books, but due once again to the logistics of collecting and storing them prior to NN09, books will not be included in the packages that NFTT will put together this year. Other organizations are more specialized in the collection and distribution of books to Iraq and Afghanistan. If you are interested in sending books, please consider checking out the Books for Soldiers Website. It is run by DKos's very own StormBearand is a great resource for giving.
Important Note about Successful Online Donations
PLEASE DONATE HERE
When you make your online donation, the screen indicates that you are donating to Netroots Nation. This is the right screen! Rest assured all donations WILL go to NFTT. If you wish, feel free to use the comment area provided to note that your donation is intended for Netroots For The Troops. It isn’t necessary to do this however, as this is the only fundraising activity being conducted for Netroots Nation at this time. For further information about online donations, please read TexDem's diary on the subject.