Military Spouse Network
Tips, news and community createdjust for Military Spouses.
Access our library of free homebuying ebooks and PDF guides.
Veterans United Network’s Christy Lewis breaks down some of the best ways to make the perfect care package for your soldier.
Transcript:
Hi everyone, I’m Christy Lewis with Veterans United Network. Right now, we’re putting together a few care packages to send to deployed soldiers. We’ve got a lot of experience sending these out, so we wanted to share a few tips and tricks with you.
The best bang for your buck would be to go to your local post office and pick up some of these free boxes. They’re 12 by 12 by 5 inches deep. These are flat rate boxes- meaning you can make them as heavy as you want, and still pay the same shipping price, around six dollars.
Even though these boxes are small, you can send more than one at a time. Normally, the bigger the box, the longer it takes to get to your soldier. These small boxes could make it there in about two weeks, instead of six weeks for the larger ones.
So let’s get to what goes inside the boxes:
Of course, you’ll want to make sure it’s all non-perishable and unlikely to melt. Beef jerky is a very popular item.
Sauces and spices are pretty popular, too. Your soldier probably gets tired of eating MREs. Sending their favorite hot sauces, spices, and even taco mix can give their meals a kick. Just make sure you send plastic bottles to reduce the risk of something breaking along the way.
Another thing you might not think about- when sending canned goods, pop-tops are the way to go. Most soldiers don’t have can openers.
You could also send some snacks to your soldier- individually wrapped ones usually keep longer and are convenient for grab-and-go situations. Stuff like granola bars, crackers, Pop Tarts…
Before you send any food that needs to be cooked, ask what your soldier has access to. Do they have a microwave? A hot plate? Bowls? Utensils?
This kind of oatmeal is perfect for sending overseas. You can make it on a hot plate, in a microwave, or with hot water. And you can do it in the pouch, so no bowls necessary.
Sending chili it good because it can be made in almost any cooking manner, too- microwave, hot plate, whatever.
Sending candy can be tricky because of the high temps in the desert.
Almost any chocolate is off limits because of melting messes. You can send chocolate syrup if your soldier is desperate.
Try to send stuff that is individually wrapped or has a hard coating. And we also recommend sending a few items that can spruce up what your soldier drinks. Anything that can dissolve in water works great- lemonade, KoolAid, instant coffee.
Now, keep in mind all this stuff can get warm from the weather and the smells can permeate other items in the box. If you’re not careful, everything can taste like the coffee you packed, or everything can taste minty from the candy you packed. So your best bet is to pack it all in tightly sealed Ziploc bags.
We recommend you start a new separate box for health and beauty items. Some of the essentials your soldier will appreciate are over-the-counter meds. Ibuprofen for sore muscles, Tums, Icy Hot and allergy medication.
More basic items that could come in handy are Bandaids- regular ones and ones with a lot of cushion for blisters and foot sores.
The most requested item from almost any soldier- baby wipes. They work as napkins, quick showers, face wipes, quick cleanups, anything. You almost never want to send a care package without these.
As far as entertainment goes, send your soldier sports magazines, movies, cards, handheld games, board games. Batteries are another good item to send because there’s almost always a need for them- double A’s and D batteries.
Some people may have never played crossword puzzles and word searches when they were home, but actually enjoy getting them during a deployment.
Remember, all this stuff is pretty standard. Feel free to add/subtract whatever you want to make your package more personal for your loved one.
For more care package ideas and tips check out our Military Family channel.
28 Comments
She said the shipping price is normally about $6 ???? Not even close! It’s always $11 or $13.
If you get a flat rate box the shipping should be standard price regardless of weight. The smaller boxes are $5-6 to ship and they can go up to $15.
But always be sure to ask for the military discount if you are sending to an APO/FPO box because they will take off $2. (And last Christmas they did a special where they took off $4 at our post office!)
I will have to ask this, cause i have been going in every week mailing off packages and they have never said a word, nor have i ever heard of this. Is this something new they are doing?
@facebook-577196615:disqus if you are sending it to a military address sometimes they take the $2 off automatically and won’t even say it to you, but I have had them forget too. So, Especially if you are in a non-military area, be sure to ask about it. It is not new but some post offices/workers may not know or remember right away to give you the discount!
Hi Brittney…..as far as I know this is not a new thing. But you definitely have to tell the post office that your package is going to a soldier over in (and then whatever country) and they will gladly give you the discount…HUGS!!
Just something my husband told me recently was that he appreciated the fact that I didn’t send the basics…. baby wipes, qtips etc cuz he can buy that there. He really appreciated getting boxes of stuff that HE liked. Tried and true favorites
plus things like his fave sports team comforter etc. Just wanted to share his thoughts 
Great ideas! My #1 tip to people making care packages is to communicate with their soldiers first! Some service members have access to things like babywipes and bandaids and some rarely get to go buy any of that.
I do know that in general they have been telling people to stop sending: shampoo, soap, razors and sunscreeen… these items have just become so common that they get overwhelmed with extras!
Personalizing it is KEY! All snack items should be selected according to your service members preferences and what they say they miss. Get games, movies, magazines that they like and the goofy stuff can be the things that are most remembered!
My husbands biggest WANT/NEED was cards, the BX only had anniversary cards, he needed graduation, birthday, etc. Something to keep in mind.
Great idea! This is such a help to soldiers who want to send cards back to family members when they miss important events. They have a hard time getting them. I have send these, and sometimes I am even lucky enough to get one back!
My husband is currently deployed and i was told by him the best packages to receive is a box full of junk food. He said most are not selfish and will all get together share and trade. He told me they get dozens and dozens of boxes of hygiene products and it is overflowing. He said that has been every deployment. So i find myself sending tons of boxed candy,chips,gum,suckers,mints,jerky, nuts,ect. They all love it!
My husband is definitely a fan of the junk food too! I hardly send any generic hygiene products anymore. They are swimming in sunscreen these days! But it never hurts to ask if you could send something specific. I have had people ask specifically for things like: tums, cough drops, etc.
the flat rate boxes do have weight limits. while they are high, they still have them. also she said it can take them awhile to get there, my husband got his in a week!
That is awesome. Timing varies depending on location, the time of year (Christmas time packages take a LOT longer!) and size. My rule of thumb is, the smaller the box the faster it gets there, but even the largest flat rate box still gets there pretty quickly most times.
hi how could i get an address to write to a solider ? a single one as iam single iam an ex military wife army. thankyou for any info. dawn at dawnmariecole54@gmail.com
a lot of it is o.k., but coming from a veteran of O.I.F. (I was in Kuwait 2003-04), I can honestly say that beef jerkey is readily available at the nearest PX or other mode.A newspaper from his hometown would really be appreciated. Don’t send candy bars between March and Oct. It’ll melt and become useless. only about 4 months are safe for chocolate: Nov – Feb.
how would I go about finding a person in need to send things to? I am a recent Veteran and would like to help the best way I can. Please email me
You state that the price of shipping these boxes are around $6. Very incorrect. These boxes are $13,95 and actually the new Priority Regional boxes are much cheaper and you can send many more packages for your money.
Calling our Military “Soldier” is only for the US Army, US Marines are Marines, US Navy are Sailors, USAF are Airmen or Airman. Please correct.
MMMMMMMM, mid-mission, mid-desert hot plate chili (tongue hanging out Homer style)…
Also I thought it was cute that she went on about wiping faces and such but didn’t mention the use that 90% of those baby wipes will have (for guys who leave the wire on long missions, anyway): the closest thing to a shower you’ll see for the next few days/weeks. Yeah I know, gross, but just imagine how gross it is not even having a wipe.
My son loves me to send “cake in a jar”…stays super moist in heat sealed mason jar. Send canned icing and chocolate yahoo in a box and instant party! He reuses the mason jars! I send them in the free military boxes for about $13 per box. Wrap in bubble wrap ( he lives popping it later)-I can get 5-6 jars per one box mix! I have been “ordered” to send w/ every care package! I recently sent 5 boxes at once…the entire line behind me took notes on what I was sending…hope that means more service members got to eat cake!
I would like to corespond with a soldier who may not have anyone to write to him or her.
Any info you could give me to be able to do this would be appreciated.
you can reach me at bois1us@yahoo.com
We would love to help out… let us know how we can at http://www.giftabox.com
Awesome! Yea, definitely check with your service member whenever possible. We try to personalize things too. We always send DVDs and magazines and food should always be according to their favorites and preferences!
Thanks so much. Many soldiers do have access to PX or other methods of buying basic supplies and things like Beef jerky, but again, this varies widely in regards to access. Definitely true with the chocolate too!
I have good experience with requesting addresses through http://www.anysoldier.com/. They have service members post that they would like certain items and you can request an address and send them packages!
Very true! My husband calls it shower-in-a-packet!
Thanks for pointing this out, you are definitely right. We try to be very conscious of this but occasionally each of us slips up and refers to the branch that we are affiliated/experienced with. Thanks though for pointing it out, we definitely did not mean to exclude anyone!
Thanks for the update. The smallest of the flat rate boxes are about $6 and I think this was the reference, again depending on the weight of the package sometimes the priority boxes are cheaper.
2 Trackbacks
[...] addition to letters, your soldier would love receiving a care package from you with a few of his or her favorite [...]
[...] http://www.veteransunited.com/spouse/tips-and-tricks-to-a-great-care-package/ Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. [...]