thedrifter
07-21-08, 07:37 AM
Volunteers pack ‘care packages’ for marines
By Glenn Wallace/Staff writer
Volunteers from the Vandenberg Country Club helped assemble more than 350 pounds of donated goods into care packages Sunday for more than 30 marines stationed in Khandahar, Afghanistan.
The mass mailing was the second to be sent out by Cindy Sanner, of Vandenberg Village, and her group of volunteers. She said it would not be the last.
Sannder said the effort began with one comment from her son, Ken Schmelzel, 20, who is a marine stationed in Afghanistan.
“He said he and some of his buddies had athletes foot,” Sanner recalled.
Sanner decided sending foot powder to her son and fellow marines would be the least she could do. When thank-you’s from the marines came back, Sanner said she was struck by the their appreciation, and realized the many simple items a soldier far from home might be missing.
“I started thinking, you know you should just start mailing things out,” Sanner said.
With the help of the Web site www.adoptaplatoon.org, Sanner sent out one mass mailing in May, and has done several smaller mailings on her own, such as distributing 200 donated electric toothbrushes.
For the mass mailings, Sanner enlists the aid of “the ladies who golf,” members of the Women’s Golf Association. Members helped inventory and pack each of the more than 40 boxes in the Vandenberg Village Country Club on Sunday.
For most mailings, Sanner uses the U.S. Postal Service’s one-rate box, at a cost of $10.95. For larger or irregularly-shaped packages, the local UPS Store, where Sanner works, donates packing materials.
Community donations have paid for all the postage costs so far, Sanner said.
The most requested items by soldiers include snack food, cotton socks, undershirts, calling cards — and simply letters of support.
Sanner said she has received numerous thank-you’s for the packages.
Occasionally Sanner will receive special information about a soldier, and be able to specialize a box, such as packing special toiletries for female soldiers, or sending a double care package to the mail call soldier, who never had any mail of his own.
“In the letters we got back there are a lot of, ‘Thank you for not forgetting about us.’ ‘Thank you for taking the time to find out what we need and want,’” Sanner said.
The ladies who golf are not done yet. Sanner said the group hopes to mail more packages, even though the Sanner family will soon be moving from the area.
“Wherever I move, I’ll keep it up on my own as well,” Sanner said.
Glenn Wallace can be reached at 737-1059 or gwallace@lompocrecord.com
Ellie
By Glenn Wallace/Staff writer
Volunteers from the Vandenberg Country Club helped assemble more than 350 pounds of donated goods into care packages Sunday for more than 30 marines stationed in Khandahar, Afghanistan.
The mass mailing was the second to be sent out by Cindy Sanner, of Vandenberg Village, and her group of volunteers. She said it would not be the last.
Sannder said the effort began with one comment from her son, Ken Schmelzel, 20, who is a marine stationed in Afghanistan.
“He said he and some of his buddies had athletes foot,” Sanner recalled.
Sanner decided sending foot powder to her son and fellow marines would be the least she could do. When thank-you’s from the marines came back, Sanner said she was struck by the their appreciation, and realized the many simple items a soldier far from home might be missing.
“I started thinking, you know you should just start mailing things out,” Sanner said.
With the help of the Web site www.adoptaplatoon.org, Sanner sent out one mass mailing in May, and has done several smaller mailings on her own, such as distributing 200 donated electric toothbrushes.
For the mass mailings, Sanner enlists the aid of “the ladies who golf,” members of the Women’s Golf Association. Members helped inventory and pack each of the more than 40 boxes in the Vandenberg Village Country Club on Sunday.
For most mailings, Sanner uses the U.S. Postal Service’s one-rate box, at a cost of $10.95. For larger or irregularly-shaped packages, the local UPS Store, where Sanner works, donates packing materials.
Community donations have paid for all the postage costs so far, Sanner said.
The most requested items by soldiers include snack food, cotton socks, undershirts, calling cards — and simply letters of support.
Sanner said she has received numerous thank-you’s for the packages.
Occasionally Sanner will receive special information about a soldier, and be able to specialize a box, such as packing special toiletries for female soldiers, or sending a double care package to the mail call soldier, who never had any mail of his own.
“In the letters we got back there are a lot of, ‘Thank you for not forgetting about us.’ ‘Thank you for taking the time to find out what we need and want,’” Sanner said.
The ladies who golf are not done yet. Sanner said the group hopes to mail more packages, even though the Sanner family will soon be moving from the area.
“Wherever I move, I’ll keep it up on my own as well,” Sanner said.
Glenn Wallace can be reached at 737-1059 or gwallace@lompocrecord.com
Ellie