Showing our troops we care

As of last year 35,000 United States men and women were stationed in the Middle East according to numbers from the U.S. military. Sometimes the smallest sign from home can help brighten their day. That’s part of the reason why Operation We Care sends out almost 2,000 care packages per year. Sunday they got ready for another shipment, by having a packing party.

U.S. troops deployed overseas, knowing the person sending you a care package is not that important the organization says, what is important, is that someone took the time to send it.

“When you’re half the world away, away from your friends and family, it’s kind of nice and it’s definitely a morale booster to receive a package from somebody you don’t know,” said Jeff Merritt, founder of Operation We Care.

Merritt founded Operation We Care back in 2007, a non-profit that sends care packages to troops.

Sunday in Sharptown, Md. they set a new record for themselves, packing 810 care packages with the help of over 200 volunteers.

For one of those volunteers, Marine Core Veteran Anthony Smith, helping out something close to his heart.

When he was deployed in Iraq in 2005, he received a care package from people he didn’t know .

“When you’re deployed on Christmas and you know it just means a lot to get something from home, whether it’s family or a complete stranger, it just shows that the American public still cares,” Smith said.

Smith said some of the best things you can get in a care package are personal hygiene products.

“Being in a desert, dust gets everywhere, you know and there were times when we didn’t have running water and showers and you had to use baby wipes to clean up and stuff,” Smith said.

But even better than baby wipes Smith says, is chocolate.

“It was always a big thing to get chocolate from home cause the (postal exchange) never had enough chocolate,” Smith said. “We would be like hey I got a snickers bar i’ll trade you for a milky way or something like that.”

So even if you don’t know anyone currently serving overseas you can get in contact with an organization like Operation We Care, or even your local American Legion and put a care package together.

Because just receiving one, means a whole lot, especially close to the holidays.