We did it again!

On Sunday, November 3rd, more than thirty volunteers joined OTOH for the 11th event to send some joy to the soldiers stationed overseas during the upcoming holiday season.  Volunteers included military family members and those from Diemand Farm, North Orange Grange, Mahar Key Club and Veterans Education Project.  The volunteers helped to prepare more than fifty care packages which included items such as drawings and letters from students at Swift River School, crackers, Easy Mac, cookies, magazines and toiletries.

Soldiers have already written thanking OTOH for the unexpected kindness.  One Sargent wrote, "A little taste and reminder of home from these care packages are what truly makes a deployment worthwhile.  Knowing that people at home who are taking time out of their busy schedule just to not only think of us over here but act on it speaks volumes."  A First Lieutenant wrote, "Being deployed in support of a war that many have forgotten about is difficult sometimes.  To be the recipients of such an overwhelming random act of kindness is incredible.  The soldiers here face challenges on a daily basis that no person should have to experience in their entire lives.  Constant reminders that the American people are still behind the soldiers are what keeps these guys going."

Our next event to prepare care packages will be held in April 2013.  However, if you know of a soldier who is stationed overseas and would appreciate a care package, please contact OTOH.  Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers!!  We could not do this without you!

We need YOUR help!

We are gearing up for our eleventh care packaging event on Saturday, November 3rd.  To make this another successful event, we need YOUR help!  As always, we need volunteers on the day of the event to help us pack the boxes, complete the custom forms and write letters.  However, there are many other ways you can help!

1)  Do you know of a soldier stationed overseas who would appreciate a care package?  If so, download the "Soldier Referral Form" from the link above and return it to us by Saturday, October 20th.  Your soldier will then be sent a package with a "touch of home"!

2)  Donate supplies to go into the care packages!  Download the "Suggested Supply Donations" list from the above link to see what items we need.  Supply donations can be dropped off at Adams Animal Hospital in Athol or Diemand Farm in Wendell until Saturday, October 20th.

3)  Make a monetary donation to help us purchase needed supplies and pay for the cost of shipping.  We spend close to $1,000 for each event!  This includes purchasing supplies for the care packages as well as shipping the packages.  Donations can be mailed to: Operation Touch of Home, 93 Royalston Road, Orange, MA 01364.

If you'd like to help at the event, please contact us by Saturday, October 20th to receive more details.  As always, we greatly appreciate the support we receive from you and others in our community.  We could not do this without you!

We're still at it!

Although our next care packaging event is not until November, we recently sent out nine packages to soldiers stationed overseas.  We received new addresses of troops deployed to Afghanistan and we didn't want to wait until our next event to send them goodies and a "touch of home".

The summer is flying by and shortly we will be preparing for our big shipment of care packages in the fall.  Enjoy the weather and we hope to see you in November!

Our 10th Event!

Time sure does fly by! We held our tenth care packaging event on Saturday, April 14^th. Nineteen community members came together to prepare more than forty packages to be sent to soldiers overseas. One soldier recently thanked OTOH: “Your packages could not have arrived at more of a perfect time … It means so much to us to know that we are not forgotten out here, 9000 miles away from our home.” Another wrote, "Most of us have completed multiple tours during both of these wars, and it amazes us that people at home still care." We appreciate the support OTOH receives from the community; from donations of supplies and money to volunteering, spreading the word and referring soldiers. Since OTOH began in 2007, more than 510 care packages have been sent to troops overseas. Without the community's support, none of this would be possible. OTOH is sponsored by the North Orange Grange and Diemand Farm in Wendell.

Time flies...!!!

Although it seems unbelievable, our next care packaging event is coming up soon!! It feels like just yesterday that we had our ninth event and sent more than fifty care packages to soldiers overseas.

Volunteers after another successful event

Our tenth event will take place on Saturday, April 14th. We will be looking for volunteers to help on Saturday to prepare the care packages. If you are unable to help on that day, you can help in other ways as well. We are in great need of supplies to fill the care packages. Please use our Suggested Supply Donation list (found above in the Important Documents link) as a guide for needed supplies. Donations need to be submitted by Friday, April 6th. To recommend a soldier to receive a package at our next event, please fill out the Soldier Referral Form (found above in the Important Documents link) and send it to us. If you are interested in helping in these or other ways, please contact us to become involved in another great event!