Soldier's Angels
@Kouponkaren (5497)
United States
February 24, 2022 10:55pm CST
Have you ever heard of the Soldier's Angels organization? It's a non-profit organization that has a lot of different programs to help current deployed US soldiers as well as veterans.
They have a program where you can sign up to write to US soldiers who don't get much mail. You can sign up to write to someone once a week, and send a care package to that person once a month, or if you don't want to make that kind of commitment, you can sign up just to write 1 letter a month to someone who is waiting to get assigned a regular letter writer.
I used to do this many years ago and really enjoyed it. The only thing that was hard was out of the 6 different soldiers I write to, only 2 ever got in touch with me to let me know a bit about themselves and what they liked/disliked about the care packages. So for the others, it was like writing to a stranger and never knowing if they got the letters or what they liked for care packages.
Then life got busy and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with the commitment. That was when you had to write 1 letter a week. I have been thinking about doing it again for a while now, and with everything happening in Ukraine, it has just reminded me of how important it is to help keep up the morale of a US soldier.
Can you imagine being a soldier deployed somewhere far away and not getting much or any mail from someone who cares? I can't.
I prefer writing to people over talking to people. Do you enjoy writing letters enough to do something like this?
4 people like this
3 responses
@Kouponkaren (5497)
• United States
26 Feb 22
@LadyDuck Apparently even hearing your name called at mail call boosts their morale. Some soldiers never hear their name called. So depressing when everyone around you is getting mail. I guess there are some people who even though they have families, don't get any mail from them. So a cheery card once a week, from someone you will get to know through weekly letters, is better than nothing. Plus the monthly care package is good. The organization gives you suggestions about what to put in the care packages...playing cards, gum, hard candy, crossword puzzle books, word searches, lip balm, etc. Those things are all pretty standard requests.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
26 Feb 22
@Kouponkaren - Now I am thinking to the many elders in nursing homes who never hear from their families. We should do something also for them. So sad to arrive at the end of your life and to be forgotten, even worse than those soldiers.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5497)
• United States
1 Mar 22
@LadyDuck Back a few years ago I posted on Facebook that I wanted to write to people that liked to get mail but didn't get much. This was during the pandemic and people weren't getting out much and in the convalescent homes they weren't allowed to have any visitors. I only got one response, and it was from a friend who has a friend who lives in a convalescent home and she is 99. So I do send her mail. I have over 600 Facebook friends though and I only got 1 name from that request. I was disappointed.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5497)
• United States
26 Feb 22
@JudyEv I never received a letter back from any of the 6 I wrote to over a 3 year period. I think I wrote to each of them over a 6 month period. When they are due to be sent home, you get an email from Soldier's Angels saying they are being sent home so don't send them any more mail. Then you can decide to volunteer to write to a different soldier or stop. I got emails from 2 of them...one was a guy who sent me a very grateful email and told me he appreciated my writing to him, and a few of the things he liked. The other was from a female soldier who emailed me a couple of times and LOVED one of the care packages I sent filled with Avon items. She shared them with other women soldiers. When she returned back to the states, she looked me up on Facebook and we are Facebook friends to this day! They often don't have time to write back. So when you sign up to do it you go into it knowing you may never hear from them.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5497)
• United States
26 Feb 22
@sol_cee I agree. I can't imagine what it would be like to be fighting a wat and not get any emotional support from back home.
