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SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
The Peace and Justice Committee support our troops in Afghanistan with a care package drive. As they work to bring peace to the country, our troops will welcome your gesture of caring. Our boxes will go to the care of Lt. Tom Palermo (yes, this is Senior Warden Jim Palermo’s brother) who oversees the Supply Depot and its 1500 troops at Bagram Airbase.
Our boxes will be distributed among these men and women, as well as the wounded soldiers who travel through Bagram on their way home. Our men and women are far from home, family and friends, and the comfort of familiar surroundings and routines. Your packages make their days easier!
Read on for shopping and shipping information. For more info call Peace and Justice Committee Member, Will Simmons (377-0052).
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DVDs – They get passed around and enjoyed in down time. Preferably not "tear-jerkers" or "chick-flicks." Also, no Blu Ray.
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Pre-paid Phone Calling Cards
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Toiletries
- small/travel sized toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, etc.
- tooth brushes
- baby-wipes
- razors & shaving cream
- Q-tips
- soap
- sunscreen
- chap-stick (SPF is especially welcome)
- wash cloths & towels (but not big ones, please)
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Greeting Cards, Holiday Cards, Thank-You notes – It gives our troops something to mail home and to say thanks to all the generous people.
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Snacks
- coffee (There’s never enough! Pre-ground, please, as there’s no grinder.)
- granola bars
- raisins
- snack-size crackers, chips, etc.
- licorice (red)
- no chocolate, please, since it melts ... even M&Ms!
BLUF, or, bottom line up front, as they say, anything that is sent is greatly appreciated and put to good use. However ....
Always welcome are prayers!
"Lord, hold our troops in Your loving hands. Protect them, as they protect us. Bless them and their loved ones for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."
The US Postal Service has a new flat rate box specifically for APO addresses. The box itself is free, and you can get it from the post office, or the Parish Hall. The flat shipping rate, no matter how much it weighs, is only $12.50. You must deliver your care package to the post office. If you need help getting your package to the post office, contact Peace and Justice committee member, Will Simmons at 377-0052.
A completed customs form must be attached to each box. You can get a form online at the US Postal Service website or at the post office or in the Parish Hall. In the "Detailed Description" section, the Post Office says we can categorize the the contents -- for instance lump all the snacks together with their total quantity and weight. Be sure to check three boxes: (#5) gift, (#6) airmail, (#10) treat as abandoned.
Please address your box to:
Thomas Palermo
86th IBCT (MTN), HHC 86th BSTB
Bagram Airfield
APO, AE 09354
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Personal hygiene items should be kept separate from snack items. Hygiene items give off odors that can taint the taste of snack items.
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When packing shampoo, hand lotions, and other liquid types, put them inside tightly sealed plastic bags in case they leak. Kitchen garbage bags work great and even though they may be too big for the items going into a smaller package the excess plastic will act as cushioning.
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When sending snack item, use individually wrapped hard candy for packing material. It tastes much better than styro peanuts!
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Send only nationally recognized brand name products. NO cheapies, please! We are sending the best that America has to offer, and we should send them nothing less!
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines here at Joint Task Force Paladin appreciated the care package that you sent. It was stuffed with goods that are hard to come by here in Afghanistan and served to remind us all of not only the comforts of home, but of how much support we have from Patriots like you all. It is gestures like this and folks like you that make serving in this environment a lot easier and I thank you on behalf of all the Paladin service members for your generosity and concern.
Take care and God bless you, Sean Kirschner
Good Morning,
When you saw me here two things went through your mind, "Is that Jim Palermo our Senior Warden?" and two, "Who's cooking breakfast!"
I would like to thank Ted for inviting me to the pulpit today. I would also like to thank Bishop Dabney Smith for spending his morning with us here at St. Boniface. Before I move on to the real reason I am here I would like to thank all the parishioners that increased their pledges and or gave an outright gift to the Challenge Gift Cmpaign that helped restore an additional small percentage to the salaries of our clergy and staff here at St Boniface. They continue to work more with less every day.
Now I would like to tell you a story...I got a phone call March 27, 1981. It was from my brother, Tom. He was a senior in high school. "I just joined the Army," he said. "Fantastic," was my reply. "What do Mom and Dad think?" His reply was "Dad is smiling and Mom is crying." This is the 4th brother of five. Mom and dad were tired -- he was cruising through his senior year dodging snowballs, working on cars, avoiding Stretch (our town sheriff), and trying to keep peace at home. Tom did his first two years then got out and then signed up for the Vermont National Guard: one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer, plus a regular job. He became interested in Officer Candidate school, the National Guard put him through college, then hired him full time as a 1st Lieutenant. Now almost 30 years later as a Lieutenant Colonel he is guiding his unit of 1500 men and women soldiers from Vermont and five other northern states as part of a 35,000 person base. He is the Depot Commander at Bagram Air Base outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. Now he is dodging real bullets, insurgents, roadside bombs and a daily influx of terrorists trying to make their way into the camp. These men and women are on a 15-month deployment that started last October, let's think about that for a minute. As school is ending try and remember the highlights of the past year, that's only 10 months. Think what you would have have missed.
Thanks to Will Simmons and the Peace and Justice Committee, we are trying to bring a bit of home to Tom and his troops. The wish list and all the information is posted on the web site as well as in the parish hall. It has all the appropriate forms for customs and the boxes needed. I hope you can take a few minutes, a few dollars, put together a box, and write a note -- theylove to get mail -- and bring a bit of home to a soldier far removed from theirs.
Thank You and God Bless,
Jim Palermo
Last Published: July 6, 2010 2:34 PM
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BACKPACKS PACK SUPPORT
 Our July Giving Tree supported Healthy Families, a program of the Florida Center for Child and Family Development, working to stem abuse and neglect in at-risk families in our community. We collected supply-filled backpacks --70 of them!-- for kindergarteners in the program as they headed off to their first day of school. Click here to read a thank you letter from the Florida Center's President , and here to read a letter from Healthy Families' Vice President.
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