of Defence site, link here.
Please note that there are special addresses for Christmas Mail so that they know it is Christmas Mail!
Christmas Mail will be able to be sent from 22 October 2012 until 7 December 2012.
Here is a cut and paste from the link:
A number of community-based organisations and community members have expressed a wish to send care packages to Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel serving on overseas operations on Christmas Day. In response to this generosity, the ADF has established special mailing addresses. These will operate from 22 October 2012 until 7 December 2012.
If you would like to support our service men and women, you are able to
send parcels through Australia Post provided they meet the following
guidelines:
-
for postal security reasons, you will need to present a photographic identification;
- you can post parcels weighing up to a cubed weight of two kilograms in a ‘BX2’-sized Australia Post carton free of charge;
- if your parcel exceeds this limit, you will need to pay the full cost;
- articles must be packed in durable packaging, which is suitably secured, to withstand a large volume of weight and handling;
- postal addresses will be active from 22 October 2012 until 7 December 2012 and packages will be distributed throughout the operational areas;
- care package items most appreciated include uniquely Australian treats such as Tim Tams, lollies, magazines, books and DVDs. (Please note that any food stuffs should be non perishable in nature and sealed in commercial packaging.); and
- some items must not be sent including cigarettes, alcohol, perfumery products and pornography.
Care Packages for Military Dogs and Explosive Detection Dogs
The Australian public have
expressed their support not only for our ADF members, but also their
four-legged partners.
Unfortunately, care packages for explosive detection dogs and military
dogs, containing items such as toys and food cannot be used by the dogs. The
dogs cannot play with the toys, as their tennis ball toy is a key part of their
training and the food can’t be used due to the dogs’ strict diets.
Defence would like to thank the public for their generous and kind
support for our explosive detection dogs and military dogs and ask that you
consider making a donation to your local animal welfare shelter on behalf our
dogs.
Please address your parcel to one of the following:
Middle East
An Australian Defence Member
Goodwill Mail
AFPO 60
Middle East Operations
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890
East Timor
An Australian Defence Member
Goodwill Mail
AFPO 61
East Timor Operations
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890
Solomon Islands
Helpful links and notes:
What to Send/What not to Send, please note above in blue, no food to be sent to K9s. Food is anything that they can eat. No toys or balls for the dogs, as this interferes with their training. The Department of Defence has requested that donations be made to your local animal shelter in lieu of sending things for the dogs.
Department of Defence site, link here.
An Australian Defence Member
Goodwill Mail
AFPO 62
Solomon Islands Operations
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890
Helpful links and notes:
What to Send/What not to Send, please note above in blue, no food to be sent to K9s. Food is anything that they can eat. No toys or balls for the dogs, as this interferes with their training. The Department of Defence has requested that donations be made to your local animal shelter in lieu of sending things for the dogs.
Department of Defence site, link here.
20 comments:
Hi great to see a blog from you,I am always looking.My Facebook page is not working as I would like so a Care Package blog page is in the making(also having hiccups).
Our little town posted its 106th package yesterday I am so proud of them and the pre-school gave me $353 yesterday and the little ones made decorations for the soldiers.
I will save the info you have given it is great,I am not sure until I get my next list of recipients whether I will be using the same address or if we will do what we are doing now,I am sure the Chaplin will direct us,I will have another list of 30 at the weekend and thankfully I can fulfil them straight away.You do such a fantastic job.Well done!
Hi all,
I'm just about to send 3 care parcels and I want to make sure I'm sending to the correct address, as with previous parcels I have sent to this address; An Australian Soldier”
Op Slipper
AFPO 13
Australian Defence Force
SYDNEY NSW 2890
So do I now send these care packages to this address; Middle East
An Australian Defence Member
Goodwill Mail
AFPO 60
Middle East Operations
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890
What is the difference in these addresses?..
I would appreciate your help with this thanks in advance...
Cheers Rusti
sorry just another question, if I'm sending a package to a female soldier do I put to an Australian Defence member?
Cheers again from Rusti...
By the way you people are just amazing and you should be very proud of yourselves...
Hi Rusti
The address in this post is the Christmas Address. Use this address when sending Christmas parcels. The address we usually use is for other times of the year.
I think that the Christmas mail may be kept until it can all be sent over to the recipients and I suspect this is done so that they know how many parcels they are getting and can distribute them to the people who need them (ie. those who don't get mail from home).
If you are sending female specific parcels just write "FEMALE" on the parcel. Please remember that there are many more male service personnel than female in the Middle East.
Keep up the good work, Rusti. Your efforts are very much appreciated by recipients far from home!
Hi Kae,
Thanks so much for all the info and for repling so quickly, I now know what I shall do, I'm also sending a care package to an adopted soldier via the Chaplain so will send them on Monday to the normal address, and send the christmas packages soon....cheers
I love to send our brave soldiers some things from home because I truly appreciate what they are doing and wish I could send more, but I'm now finding it hard to find a part time job so I just send what I can and I'm sure the soldiers great a real buzz no matter what it is I can imagine their faces lighting up!....
Thanks again for the help,
Cheers
Rusti
p.s. I hope the females will get what I send okay, but thanks for letting me know.
Hi ladies... I would love to send our troops care packages all year round... Can I do this? How do I do this? My children would love to write to some of them, is there someway we can 'adopt' a soldier?
Thanks Sara
sara_louise_cumming@yahoo.com.au
Hi Sarah
You can send parcels year round, please look in the column on the right for the addresses. You can send letters to the same address as the parcels.
To adopt a soldier please send a letter addressed to the Chaplain rather than "An Australian Soldier" and enclose a letter for your adoptive soldier. Write a letter to the Chaplain asking him whether he can please find you a soldier to adopt.
Note that most deployments are of 6 or so months.
You could get your children to write letters to sick soldiers, send them to the Middle East address and put in the address "To a Sick Soldier in Hospital", it may find its way to Tarin Kot Hospital, one of ours over there.
Thanks so much for supporting our personnel serving overseas!
Have a great Christmas!
Thank you for all the info... :-) the kids are super excited to hopefully brighten some ones day... :-). Would you please be able to email me a list of things you send, and things not allowed to be sent? I called my local post office today and they weren't very helpful... :-)
Hi Sarah
There are a bunch of links in the right side column of this blog, under the followers.
The heading is:
Links to info posts in this blog.
Read "What to send/What not to send"
Remember that we have advice this year that no food is to be sent for the dogs, and no toys as this interferes with their training. Food includes dog treats. Make a donation to an animal welfare organisation in lieu of sending doggy treats!
All the information is on this blog, read the linked posts in the "Links to info posts in this blog" area.
Thanks Kae - Also just letting you know, I popped you an email :-)
Sara
Hi Kae,
Rusti here again can sorry to b a pest but can you tell me if I can send a Santa chocolate bag as I noticed someone said they like Tim Tams but wasn't sure if chocolate would melt?
I've sent three parcels on Monday & now sending Christmas ones.
Cheers rusti
Hi Rusti
TimTams are excellent, very well received. Chocolate is not a good idea, because it can sit in hot places for a long time and this wrecks the chocolate. With timtams it's only a coating so it's not so bad.
You could send chocolate as it's winter over there, but I'm not sure what condition they'd arrive in. Parcels for last Christmas were delayed. The deadline was about the same as this year, but they weren't delivered until mid February due to the severity of the winter. They can sit on hot tarmacs etc for a while.
Hi there Kae,
Ok thanks for the info on chocolates sounds like Tim tams are the go so i will get some.
Cheers Rusti
An idea instead of Tim Tams/chocolate - I've been sending parcels since 2009 and instead of sending Tim Tams or chocolates, have sent the Nutella snack packs. Feedback I've had from some of our soldiers has been extremely favourable - even in hot weather, they don't leak all over everything! At Easter I've stuck fluffy chickens to the packs to "Easterise" them -- and at Christmas, wrapped tinsel around the packs.
Hi Marta
The nutella/chocolate spread idea is great! It won't melt and it's a treat.
Timtams are still very popular and appreciated. Now is the time to send them as it's winter in Afghanistan.
Hi Kae and everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that I have received three thank you letters from the soldiers and another from the Chaplain after receiving the care parcels and letters I sent for christmas and before.
You can't believe how excited I was to receive these letters of thanks. I will be keeping in touch with them and will still send them care parcels which I throughly love to do.
My husband & I don't have sons or daughters serving but we so often think of our service men and women and simply wanted to do something which would help in a small way, these soldiers truly do love hearing from home as was writing in their letters to us.
All the best to you all
Cheers Rusti
Hi Rusti
That's great news, I know what a thrill it is to get a note from a recipient.
I hope the Chaplain was able to help you find a solider to adopt!
K
Hi there Kae,
Yes it certainly is! I've replied to all of my letters and I will send some magazines, crosswords etc along with a few comfort items I got today.
Actually I wasn't going to mention it but I was disappointed with the Chaplain as he didn't let me know of a soldier to adopt....he sent a letter of gratitude and said a soldier in need received our package?..but no mention of a solider I could adopt??....oh well in my letters I've written back to the soldiers I've asked them if they know any soldier who would appreciate some letters and care parcels, and I have also replied to the Chaplain again asking if he can let us know of soldier we could adopt....
All the best
regards Rusti
Hi everyone, could someone please tell me if this was just for Christmas or can we send care packages anytime of the year??
I have a group of people that would like to send some packages and would love to know if it is possible to send them anytime.
Thank you in advance
Kirsten
Hi Kirsten
You can send parcels anytime. Use the addresses in the column on the right side of this page - no dog toys or goodies for the K9s because it interferes in their training.
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