I work from a checklist. Two bags of coffee brew cups, sugar and creamer packets, and tea bags. One bag with a T-shirt and cotton crew socks. Two bags of granola bars, protein bars, and beef jerky. Two bags of cookie packets, hard candy, Twizzlers, and chewing gum. One bag with toothpaste, bar soap, hand cream, and sunscreen. Two bags with tissue packets, Band-Aids, nail clippers, foot powder, and sweat bands. Two Sudoku books, two crossword puzzle books, two decks of playing cards. Eight or nine hand-written notes from total strangers, saying thanks and God bless.
It’s pack-out night for Blue Star Families of Central Virginia. In a few hours, 50 boxes of daily necessities and small luxuries will be ready to send to military service members around the world.
This group is one of four Virginia chapters of Blue Star Mothers of America, a national organization started during World War II and chartered by Congress in 1960 to “support our troops, our veterans, our military families, and each other.” Tonight’s assignment? Preparing care packages for active-duty military service members on deployment.
“Our hardest task isn’t getting money or volunteers,” says chapter president Martha Horsfall. “It’s collecting the names and addresses of those serving, so we can send them our support.”
While this chapter was started during the first Iraq conflict, its boxes aren’t just for those in combat zones; recipients may be deployed to military hospitals, refugee efforts, diplomatic stations, or rescue missions. Wherever recipients are stationed, “they open the boxes up as soon as they get there,” says Horsfall, “and within 10 minutes, everything is gone.”
Knowing the contents will be shared, the chapter tries to send two or three boxes to each recipient—since 2003, more than 6,500 packages have been mailed, each one holding about $80 worth of supplies, food, and treats. It’s not that the four military services can’t supply their own troops; the aim is to boost morale and show support from back home. As vice president Ginger Fitzgerald says, “The Army can’t send them love.”
The chapter (mostly women, but men are welcome) holds five pack-out nights a year—and every shipment, like any military operation, requires enormous preparation and organization. Weeks before a pack-out night, Horsfall compiles the mailing list. Then, she inventories supplies on hand at American Legion Post #74, which stores items already purchased or donated by local churches, schools, companies, and community organizations.
Last year, in-kind donations were valued at $15,635, more than half the cost of the supplies shipped out. But no one can put a dollar amount on the hundreds of hand-written letters, notes, and drawings Blue Star Families collect from its partners and members of the public at community events like Carter Mountain’s Salute to Hometown Heroes, the United Way’s Day of Caring, and the 4 Our Freedom 5K.
With the wish list compiled, shoppers Fitzgerald and Sharon Widdows hit Walmart, Sam’s Club, or Amazon—wherever they get the most bang for the chapter’s bucks. Then, all the supplies, treats, health and hygiene items, and clothing are sorted and prepackaged into small plastic bags. That way, on pack-out night, volunteers can take their checklists and walk down the line of tables, picking up what’s needed for each box. Once the boxes are stuffed and sealed, the addressing, processing, and shipping (averaging $23 per box) is provided pro bono by Crutchfield.
After so much preparation, the pack-out runs like clockwork. As they work, volunteers catch up, chat and laugh about how true it is that an army marches on its stomach—and its feet.
Volunteers participate for their own reasons: a child deployed, a desire to lend a hand or acknowledge a debt. Horsfall is the daughter, sister, wife, mother, and aunt of service members. Fitzgerald, whose family never had anyone in the military, found that when her son joined the Air Force, “I needed an outlet to focus my anxiety,” and became active with Blue Star Families for the camaraderie and sense of contributing to something worthwhile.
“These men and women have volunteered for us, and they’re far from home,” says Horsfall.
Blue Star Families of Central Virginia’s next pack-out is November 17, starting at 6:30pm at American Legion Post #74 in Keswick. For more information, go to bsfcv.avenue.org; to volunteer or provide a recipient’s name and address, contact Ginger Fitzgerald at gsfitzgerald@gmail.com. Note: the nonprofit organization Blue Star Families (bluestarfam.org) has a completely different focus, providing support and community networking for military families.
