Snacks, newspapers, hats, Christmas cards and more were stuffed into the care packages.
Whatever could fit, went in and was sent to troops overseas Tuesday afternoon by volunteers from VFW Post 2312.
According to Jim Shoemaker, Commander of the post, the VFW sent 125 boxes to servicemen all over the world. Shoemaker said any serviceman not stationed in the continental United States were eligible to receive a care package, saying some of the boxes were sent to locations in Hawaii and Alaska. Shoemaker said packages were also sent to the USS Antietam and several classified addresses.
“Any place overseas where there is a troop,” Shoemaker said to a resident at the Green River Post Office asking where the boxes were being sent to.
Through the years, local businesses have also been generous in donating items for the packages. Shoemaker said Wyoming Embroidery and Napa Auto Parts both donated hats for their care packages this year, while the Green River Chamber of Commerce donated playing cards. Residents have also helped out, with Green River resident Harry Holler spearheading the Christmas-card campaign that generated more than 3,000 cards.
Residents at the post office Tuesday even donated money to help cover the VFW’s shipping costs.
The packages have been appreciated too. Shoemaker said the VFW has received photos and cards thanking them, as well as U. S. flags flown in Afghanistan and Iraq during missions. He said they even received a thank you from the chaplain on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
Shoemaker said one of the main challenges the VFW faces is collecting addresses to send the packages to. He said the military does not release soldiers’ addresses to protect their privacy.
While the care packages are sent to specific service members the contents are often shared amongst other troops serving the addressees.
Shoemaker said the care packages are a yearly service project for the VFW, which he said started about a decade ago. The VFW works on this project throughout the year and aims to have the packages in the troops’ hands by Christmas.
“It’s mainly to help the troops feel they’re not forgotten,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker, a Vietnam veteran who joined with the Army in 1965, said care packages when he served always came from home, from a serviceman’s family. While these packages come from the community, the underlying goal for him and other members for the VFW is to support their brothers and sisters-in-arms.
“We’re still in the military,” Shoemaker said. “It’s a part of who I am; it’s a part of anyone who raised their right hand to defend the Constitution of the United States.”
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