Yesterday saw the 80th care package sent since November 15. Go to any soldier for a list of Soldiers and Marines who would like to hear from you.

One group said they’d like letters. So I’ve sent 75 personal two page letters since November just to them. I’ve slowed down in the last few weeks, but I’m still writing. And they got five boxes of books mailed out yesterday.

The homeschoolers have contributed to 60 of the boxes. They’ve put money in for 22 boxes and given at least something for each of those 60 boxes. At least ten have been sent only with things from the other homeschoolers.

Last November I sent huge boxes of books I’d bought at a book sale to Iraq. This year, the librarian volunteers donated five boxes of books. They probably would have donated more, but I was out of money to send them. (Then someone else donated money to send those. Drats. Should have trusted I’d get it somehow.)

Many people have gotten involved. My parents paid for 14 boxes to be mailed. They also contributed four boxes of magazines. My sister went shopping for hygiene items. A lady in line at the post office gave me $20 to mail boxes. I consider that the federal government has gotten involved, too, because we finally have flat rate boxes that only cost $7.70, instead of the $11 to $30 I was paying, to send stuff to the soldiers. My college students sent twenty letters over last semester, as part of an optional extra credit assignment.

I wish there had been something like this back during Nam, so that the soldiers would have known some of us cared. We didn’t have money back then, but we’d have sent something anyway.