Adopt A US Soldier

Today I'm going to share with you an organization that has recently become very dear to me. For a very long time I've thought it would be cool to send letters and packages to a soldier (or soldiers) who are deployed. Last month when trying to think of ways I can pay it forward I decided to look into adopting a soldier. After a quick Google search I came across Adopt A US Soldier, an organization that is designed to pair people just like me with a soldier to "adopt"... awesome! I quickly signed up and within 3 days had been assigned my soldier who is currently deployed in Afghanistan. You have two choices when signing up; you can sign up to send a single package or you can sign up to have a soldier for the duration of their deployment. We adopted a soldier for the duration of his deployment. I sent him an email the day I got his information and have had some good conversations with him since (he's even giving me suggestions on places to visit during our trip). I really like that adopting a soldier allows Amelia to get involved as well. She drew pictures and helped me shop for items to send in our package. I've used this as a way to talk to her about the different branches of military and explain what soldiers do. It has truly been an amazing experience so far... and we are only a month into this. I plan on continuing to adopt soldiers long after our soldier returns home.

In one email he informed me that a few of the men under him never receive letters or packages in the mail. Once I heard that I hit up the store and bought enough for him and all of the men under him. It's a simple thing to send someone a letter or put together a care package, and it means so much to those so far from home who are fighting for our country. I would love it if you all would consider signing up with Adopt A US Soldier and sending some love to our men and women in the military. It is really fun and such a great cause.

I went to JoAnn's and bought some patriotic paper to line our box. Amelia picked out some letters and we stuck a little message in the bottom of the box.


Amelia made this for our soldier. Isn't this the cutest thing ever!!!

Contents of our box:
shaving cream
razors
toothbrushes
toothpaste
hand sanitizer
floss
crystal light
water enhancer
jelly beans
reeses peanut butter eggs
ground coffee
peeps
cadbury eggs

Tips for sending packages:
*order boxes online through USPS. They are military boxes and the post office will send some to your house for free.
*pay for your shipping online to save money. Since the package is going overseas and through customs it can get a bit pricey. The discount given by USPS helps.

I'm already looking forward to sending our second package. We plan on including some chocolate, magazines and other yummy things they might be missing from home.

If you do sign up head back here and share your experience with us.