I saw an article in a magazine a few years ago about adopting a soldier, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to take the plunge and do it. I went to adoptaussoldier.org. They made it very easy to sign up and within a day, I was linked with a particular soldier.  I am on a budget, but there are all sorts of things that I could send him that I already had, or that did not cost so much. The website mentioned that they needed toiletries and entertainment items like games, dvds, magazines or books. It said that they liked to keep up with news and entertainment, and even are interested in local newspapers or magazines.

I had a Rubik's Cube that was not used and another game, old car magazine's of my husband(the soldier is a mechanic that is in charge of 30 other mechanics), I sent a Washington Post magazine that really has awesome stories, a toothbrush that I had that was unopened, unopened toothpaste, and goodies that were never opened. Then, I went to a local drugstore and bought antibac wipes and gel, deodorant, and lipbalm.  Then, my gym was giving away razors and promo snacks to try out and I grabbed a handful to send to him.  I am going to look around for dvd's that we have duplicates of, or when I see one on sale, just drop it in the goodie box. What is also great about it is that it is like paying local postage when sending to them because it is military. So even though it was going to Iraq it did not cost me but 7 or 8 dollars and there were lots of things in there.

I do want to send him things a couple of times a month because it takes 10-20 days before they receive it and there are hardly any supplies over there!  Sad huh? I waste so much money on soda and snacks that that could be shipping money or something for the soldier.  It is kind of exciting to be contributing to something that is so large in such a small way, but I feel that I am helping.  My daughter is going to be involved in the process so that I can teach her the gift received from giving. It is truly priceless and even though times are tough for us, they are not as tough as those soldiers over in that strange place giving their lives for us everyday.