Helping Troops Need Love Packing Boxes for Soldiers Overseas

[Bob Chapdelaine]

This past Saturday, December 3, I met John Hoover at Flightline Hobby, picked up several boxes of items our fellow club members had donated and headed over to the Waterford Community Center. When I found, the Troops Need Love Too group in the back room of the center I was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of people and number of items that were being sorted and piled on top and below the rows of folding tables in that small space. Everyone was busy sorting moving, organizing and taping the post office box bottoms and stacking them outside the back doors preparing for the packing. Fellow Skymasters, Jon Grigsby showed up shortly thereafter. Jon has agreed to be our liaison between TNLT and us.
After about a half hour, Jill held a short orientation where she shared with everyone what we were doing. She told us that the boxes we pack today would go to Afghanistan. She shared some stories of the troops that had received packages over the past months and how much they meant to our men and women who serve us so profoundly and unnoticed by most of us. It was an effort by me to hold back some of the tears and strong emotions of gratitude I felt listening to them. Several of the women said that their sons and daughters were currently deployed and one Grandma said that her grandson had become a Marine today. There were also a few veterans there too.
With our mission in hand everyone, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, young and old, and every other state of family began packing the boxes with food in some, and all kinds of everyday things we take for granted that mean the world to our troops deployed around the world who sometimes only receive one meal a day. There were small flags folded by local autistic children. Gifts wrapped the previous day by a group of girl scouts and residents at Lourdes nursing home. Several handmade, all with love, cards and items were mixed into each box along with a letter from the Troops Group. See the list of items on their website.
Each box was sealed shut and a label was affixed by a special team, (due to the confidentiality of the names and locations) with a soldier’s name! In a little over three hours we packed over 300 boxes that are intended to make it to their destination before Christmas. Jon and I had our hand on every one of those boxes because we worked at the end of the line putting the letters in before the cards and sealing of the boxes.
Skymasters had adopted this wonderful group, Troops Need Love Too, to support and help as a club. Last January, Jill and Kim came and introduced themselves to our club at a meeting and we hope to do more for them throughout the year. Some IMPORTANT facts you need to know is that 100% of all donations to the group go to the troops. Money donations pay for the shipping of the boxes, the local ladies that run things don’t even take money for gas. I hope you will take some time to look over their website and see what a great group we can support.
We are planning a packing event this winter at one of our club meetings at the end of January probably. Anyway, I had a profound experience giving my time Saturday and I hope you too will join in the future when we have a packaging event or collection for items to ship. There are also great ways you can help every day like with your Kroger Points and a few other ways on their website. www.troopsneedlovetoo.com
Here are some facts from their website… I hope you’ll go to it and read more!

Who We Are
Troops Need Love Too is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is 100% volunteer driven. We lift the spirits and meet the needs of our U.S. Armed Forces deployed to remote bases overseas. Through your generous donations, we thrive and are able to support our Armed Forces whiles they are deployed.
Troops Need Love Too raises awareness and engages to publics aid for our U.S. Armed Forces deployed to remote bases overseas. By coming together, we can pack and send care packages with food, hygiene items and letters from home boosting moral. By keeping moral high we are letting our Armed Forces know they are never forgotten.
Having a son who is actively serving our Country has brought awareness to the items our troops lack while on deployments overseas. Through his and other’s stories, I learned a sad but true reality of what our troops are faced to deal with daily while on these remote bases. No Service Member, that has signed a blank check for up to and including his/her life should have to go without food, hygiene items and letters from home supporting them. This is where we at home can make a difference to them.