November 16, 2010 | tagged Adopt an MP, Care packages, Deployment, Mail Haven’t heard from your [a] Adopt an MP soldier [b] deployed friend or [c] brother in boot camp? Send a form letter. (It works!)
We are seven months into our year-long Adopt an MP program, and lots of letters, postcards, and care packages have been sent to Iraq. Our volunteers have been real troupers, sending cheer to strangers overseas to make sure these soldiers know they are not forgotten. But while many volunteers have received thank-you letters or email updates — or have friended their soldier on Facebook — others haven’t heard that their packages have made it to Iraq. (For the record, we know that everyone in the 108th MP Company is safe, thanks to the newsletters the Company puts out every month.)
All of us understand that these young men and women have tough jobs, and we’re sure they’d prefer to spend their spare time eating cookies and relaxing, rather than stressing over letters to strangers. So here’s an idea to bridge the gap and make things easy on the soldier — and give you peace of mind that your packages are making it to their destination.
Type up a fun form letter for your soldiers to fill out and send back to you. All they have to do is check some boxes, fill in a few blanks, and send it on its way back to the States. Easy and quick! I borrowed this idea from Jody, one of our volunteers. And it worked for both of us. (The letter, below, is one I got back last week from my soldier, Robert.) The sillier and more humorous you make your letter, the more likely you are to get a response. The form letters are great for strangers, and they are also a great option for friends in boot camp.
Don’t forget to include a self-addressed envelope with your form letter so your soldier doesn’t have to dig out your address and find an envelope. Notice I didn’t say self-addressed stamped envelope: You don’t need to add a stamp because deployed servicemembers can send first-class mail for free.
If you send a form letter to a soldier, please send us a copy! We’d love to see other fill-in-the-blank letters in action.
Reader Comments (3)
Great idea from Jody! Thanks for sharing with all of us.
A form letter like this is how I discovered my soldier was allergic to peanuts. Unfortunately, the letter arrived shortly after I sent a big box of.....peanuts, nuts, and trail mix. So to make up for any allergic reaction I may have caused, I shipped off jumbo boxes of Star Crunch, which he had noted in the form letter that he missed and couldn't get over there. No more stranger-danger care packages from me...hopefully.
I love this idea - and will keep the form letter handy for my next batch of adoptees :D
Pax