As a former service member, I first wanted to say that this forum and its guidance are spot on. I've been the recipient of many care packages from family, friends, groups like this, and anonymous. I realize that there are probably many former service around here, but I figured there are also many who never get to see the other side of that package and what it means to us. I just wanted to take a moment and chime in on a few favorites from personal experience.

- Probably my favorite came from a little school girl. She put a thank you card in it, some drawings, a video of her class Christmas recital, and a package of baby wipes because her "daddy said it saves lives." I laughed so hard at that, but it really is true. She wrote about her favorite movie, and included a return address. When we pulled into port, I found a stuffed animal from that movie and sent it back to her. We also played that Christmas recital on ship's TV during one Christmas we were deployed. It actually became a tradition in which we played the recital on TV every holiday we were away from home. From a morale perspective, that package carried more weight than anything I received in the service.

- I had a class send items from one of their bake sales to my ship. They were doing a fundraiser, and decided to take a few of each item and put it in boxes. They then sent the boxes to the command, care of myself, with a note that said they were doing this for me and for my crew. We put the boxes on the mess decks, and made an announcement over the 1MC (public address circuit). The crew went to town, emptying the boxes in seconds. We all hung out on the mess decks and read the notes out loud that the kids had added. It was really nice break from routine. Although the class did all the work, they did so in my name, so the rest of the crew was thankful to me even though I didn't do anything. I kept trying to take no credit, but people were nicer than usual for a while after that because of that package.

- A buddy of mine got a package from a school that contained a dozen mad-libs books. At first I was thinking that this was a horrible idea (sailors putting adjectives in kids books - uh-oh), but we formed teams and filled them out (appropriately) and sent them back. When my buddy went home, he learned that each kid had taken their favorite and posted them along one of the hallways of their school. He took pictures with the kids under them and we framed and hung those pictures on the ship. I think the guys on our crew that had kids really enjoyed walking that passageway, and we took a lot of pride keeping that area clean and spotless. Whenever we gave tours, that wall was always a stop.

- I don't know where she got it, but my mother got a list of the "required" items for a navy seabag. The list contains all the uniform items and accessories. She then sent my a package that had backups of all those accessories. For instance, I had a new set of socks, underwear, and t-shirts. Those things tend to wear out quick, and can disappear over time as people get desperate (sad but true). It was very simple, but so completely useful. She put some cookies in there too, just in case it was overly-practical.

Some things I learned along the way:
- Forward deployed units often don't get regular mail. Most commands should have an ombudsman that can guess at their availability. They likely can't tell you directly, but they usually have an idea - which is important before sending perishable food. I had to lie to my sister and tell her that I just forgot to thank her before. If I had told her I threw away the (my favorite) brownies she made me because the mail system stunk, she would have been really upset. I knew she put a lot of thought into that box, and she'd feel responsible and would want to make it right. Better to have her think I was just callous / forgetful.
- Any gift is appreciated, no matter who it comes from and what it is. That being said, some things last longer. Food will last moments. Shareable food goes quick, but the morale benefits last even longer. Supplies can be critical, and along with time-wasters, they can be the difference between blah and misery, and for extended periods.
- Especially with forward deployed units, servicemembers usually have one of two problems - either they have too much time and need something to do, or they have too little, and they really need something to de-stress. I remember playing with one of those "water filled, shot the ball through the hoop" first-grader things for hours on end because I needed something to take my mind off things.
- On Navy ships, toiletries go quickest (esp deodorant, TP, and soap). Essential clothing accessories are next (socks, t-shirts, etc). Next to go is food that doesn't require prep, such as boiling, microwaving, etc. After that is anything "instant", such as ramen, coffee, etc. I can't speak for the land folks, but in discussions with some friends from Afghanistan and Iraq, that list seems to be fairly common with them.
- Most military food stinks. There are a lot of exceptions to that, but I never really came across consistently decent food anywhere. That being said, anything that seasons food is a blessing. MREs have little Tabasco bottles just for this reason. The excitement of eating a meal is often connected to the availability of sauces / spices. My goto's were Cholula or Old Bay Seasoning; I'd put them on just about anything to make it edible.
- Putting items in ziplock bags serves a higher purpose than just freshness and controlling spills When deploying, it's not something that is always thought of and remembered, so when we received the packages, we would always save the bags. If they had food or something like soap in them, we would even wash them out if they weren't too messy. I told my mother about this, and she started putting everything (even books, clothes, etc) in ziplocks. It looked silly, but I definitely made use of every single one of those bags.
- A lot of people donate girl scout cookies to commands. It's a pretty simple gift, and I think you can do it without having to handle the mailing yourself. I'm not really sure. I'm not a big fan of the cookies themselves, but the gift goes well beyond just taste. They remind us of home, and see my previous comments about sharables and morale effects.


In advance - I just wanted to say thanks for the support. The little things definitely do make a world of difference.