K is for Keep It Up

As you may have noticed, we haven't posted much for a while. I guess we ran out of things to say - everything you need to know about sending parcels has been covered already.

Just so you know, we haven't given up on the parcel posting thing. I generally try to get at least one in the mail every month, and if I am really organised, I'll send four in one hit. My personal aim is to send 10-20 per year, and to keep that up as long as we have troops deployed somewhere. So far, I'm not doing too badly.

I recently watched the two Four Corners episodes that covered Afghanistan. The second episode had a short segment showing the troops receiving parcels from home. It's amazing how much you can come to appreciate something like lemon teabags when you are a long way from the nearest supermarket.

Combat Team Delta

Rusti Kozicki and family says "Hi!"

Rusti's been sending packages for a while and is always thrilled when a reply arrives.

Thanks from Rusti!

from Rusti's Comment on this thread.

Rusti, if you get a thrill out a note saying thankyou (some have had phonecalls, others emails), imagine what a thrill it is to receive a package of goodies from home?

ANZAC Day, 25th April, 2010.

It's 95 years since Gallipoli.

PRAYER FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY PERSONNEL

The Psalmist says: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Gracious Lord,

You have reconciled to yourself all those who trust in your Son for the forgiveness of their sins. We pray this day for our deployed military personnel serving around this world.

Watch over our men and women, especially in places like Afghanistan where conflict and strife seem at their worst. Give them courage in adversity, safety in service and protection from harm.

We pray for those who may be sick and injured. Strengthen all who will care for them. Provide ample resources and energy to doctors, nurses and chaplains coping with prolonged work hours and deeply distressing circumstances.

We pray again for the families and loved ones of those deployed. Protect them during their periods of separation and reunite them in joy.

And, heavenly Father, we especially pray this morning for those who are now grieving the loss of loved ones killed on active service. Help them to cast their anxieties upon you, the God of all comfort. Enable others to minister to their needs with sensitivity and respect. And may they know the prayers and support of their fellow Australians.

We ask all these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

A message from the pointy end

Some feedback for parcel posters -

If you would like a reply from the person who received your parcel please enclose a self-addressed envelope. Spare envelopes would be good, too.

That way it is easy for the member to write a thank you and a hello, pop it into the envelope and post it to you.

Don't worry about a stamp.

Security

We are anonymous on this blog, the reason is that we don't want to risk anyone's security or the security of personnel serving overseas, or their loved ones here at home.

OSK is delighted to receive feedback from recipients of care packages, and you can give us feedback in the comments section, it emails us to let us know that you've made a comment. We can also be contacted privately if you click on our blogs, I have a clickable email address on my blogger bio. We don't publish this information because it is easy for bots* to automatically search the internet for email addresses and send spam. I hate spam. Spam in a can, spam on my computer - yuk to both!

About the feedback, if you do receive feedback and want to share it on the blog that's fine to put it in the comments, however, please don't use any identifying names, numbers or suchlike, and if you reproduce a thankyou or link to one, please remove the identifying information. Not everyone is as security aware as we'd like!

So, please keep in mind that we must be careful about using names and other identifying features on the blog.

*bots - people write programs to search for @ and other indicators of email addresses and can get massive lists harvested from the net using these programs or "bots".

E is for Easter.

I know it all seems a bit early to be thinking about Easter, but if we look at the time frame to get things to our Diggers, then now's a good time.

So is there anything particular we can send?

I know that chocolate is frowned upon due to it's inability to withstand high temperatures, but I did once send a small chunk of gianduja chocolate to a mate in Iraq. I put it in the freezer for a while, then wrapped it in a layer of newspaper for insulation before posting it.

It did survive the trip, and was greatly appreciated.

One thing about that, though, is that this wasn't a thin piece of chocolate a la most easter eggs, so I'm thinking that bags of small solid choc eggs would be the way to go on that front.

Also, there are things other than chocolate out there that could be considered.



I'm getting up a collection of these eggs. They're only around $2.50 ea, so adding one to the shopping bag each week isn't breaking my bank.

If you have any other suggestions of things to add that would be specific to Easter, please feel free to tell us.

OSK Mission Accomplished! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous in the comments on the post for November 30th sent us a link to this information at the DOD site....

12 January 2010
Care packages for ‘an Australian soldier’
Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been inundated with care packages from thoughtful people back home.
Hundreds of packages were addressed to ‘an Australian soldier’ and included lollies, toiletries and cards.
The smiles on the faces of the soldiers based at Camp Holland, clearly proved the care packages boosted morale.

I really can't express how pleased I am to see that the efforts of people sending care packages to Aussie defence personnel deployed overseas have been reported by the DOD. This shows that the parcels addressed to "An Australian Soldier" are getting through.

It is nice to think that our little blog has had an effect on the morale of our Defence members serving overseas, and that there are people out there who have visited our blog and decided to support our soldiers/sailors/airmen/K9s.

Thank you is such a small thing to say, but please know that your support for our troops is truly appreciated, respected and goes a long way to show that people at home care about our Defence personnel.

Here is the link to the item, there are more photographs. Note the number of packages packed in the large transport boxes.

http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/global/opslipper/images/gallery/2010/0112a/index.htm

Keep up the good work!