Halloween Candy Left Over? Send it to our troops!

If you have left-over Halloween candy, you can send it to our troops.

Usually I say just email me for a name, but look what I found: dentist offices who will accept your candy, and ship it for you!  whoo hoo!
http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/index.html
And some even BUY it back from you!






If you don't find a dentist near you, then of course, email me and I'll give you a destination!


You help the troops, we save your hips!
Email me at nancy@auntnancyusa.com and ask for a destination.

Mailing tips and suggestions are below in the Christmas stocking drive posting.
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Halloween Candy!!!

It's time to send out some Halloween candy to the troops!

Mail a box to your soldier now, maybe even add a few little decorations?

Candy can also be sent to our wounded troops in Germany at:

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

ATTN: MCEUL-CH/Chaplains Office,

CMR 402

APO AE 09180

And if you and your kids have left-over candy, you can send that too!

ps:  Our Christmas stocking project will begin soon.  Because mail to Afghanistan takes longer, we'll want to send packages in early November this year!!  Stop your shopping now!


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Another good reason to send candy to our troops....

Besides the fact that our troops LOVE candy (especially chocolate!) they often share what they receive with the local children. Many of you have sent candy (one women last year sent over 200 pounds of left-over Halloween candy she collected!) and some have sent Beanie Babies, school supplies, and even soccer balls.

This week I received a wonderful 1945 story from a woman. She said I could share it with you. You'll never know how long lasting your good deeds might be:

Hi y'all,


my daughter in law sent me your email and since
we do have so many Halloween candies left, I'm sending
them out together with her and another friends candies .


The reason I want to adopt an soldier is the following.


I was 10 years old the month of April in 1945 when
the American troops marched into Korntal bei Stuttgart
in Germany. Since we were the first house on the
outskirts of the small city, the commanding officers
with their soldiers put up their headquarters in our
Dining room.
My father was still somewhere in Estland,
so only my mother and I were at home.
I was ordered to stay in the cellar, but eventually
went up into the kitchen, where an soldier was
stationed. He saw me, waved to me to come in
and to my surprise emptied his pockets and gave me
all his candies and chocolate bars he had, the first
candies and chocolates I had seen in years.
Then he said in a broken German" I have a little girl
like you in America!"


This American soldier may be still alive, may be not,
but he sure lives on in my memories.


May be you can get me in touch with an younger
soldier who would like to hear some other amazing stories
from someone who remembers so fondly one of his kind.


Sincerely
Gerda (Gege) G.

Our troops do similar good deeds. Here are pictures soldiers have sent me, showing them sharing what we (YOU) have mailed to them. These were soccer balls -- a big hit for kids without any toys.

Halloween Candy for our wounded troops

Nov 18th update: Thanks everyone! These troops should not be wanting of candy for awhile due to all your donations!


Left-over candy??

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), our US Army Hospital located in Germany, is low on candy and welcomes your left-over Halloween treats. All candy should be in original wrappers and bags. No home-made items are accepted.

If you have some to share, send it to:
Ask me for an address.

You will need to fill out a Customs Declaration form at the post office.

And please also let me know if you send out candy as I try to keep track of how much is sent to different destinations. email nancy@auntnancyusa.com

Since you will be mailing to an Army Post Office (APO) destination, you only have to pay domestic postage rates (not overseas rates to Germany).

NOTE: Candy is heavy. Those of you doing an office collection or school project, I recommend you solicit for funds for shipping too. Since there is no "due date" for the candy, regular parcel post is the cheapest way to go. If you are going to send decorations, candy and/or gifts for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other holidays, mail early and use Priority Mail FLAT RATE boxes. The US Postal Service gives a discount for Army Post Office (APO) destinations.

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is the hospital more severely wounded are flown to immediately after being hurt. They are cared for there until they can return to their unit, or, are flown to a hospital in the USA. I'm also looking for volunteers to commit to sending Christmas stocking there too. (Limited amount, so you must let me know.) nancy@auntnancyusa.com

To see more about what is needed for arriving wounded troops, see postings below (or search by "LRMC"). Note their "Do NOT Send" list too. It is different for the hospital than for soldiers out in the field. See this link: LRMC requests

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Halloween candy, cards, and decorations

If your family, school, church, or work group would like to get some candy to our troops for Halloween, send me an email at nancy@auntnancyusa.com and I will give you a soldier/unit to send it to.

Some tips:

• Candy is very heavy, and shipping costs are high. I recommend using FLAT RATE Priority Mail boxes at this point. FLAT RATE pays off for candy. I think I saved $7 on one box (vs. regular Priority Mail.) Therefore, if your group is collecting, be sure to ask for monetary donations to help with the shipping costs. To save more money you can just send by regular parcel post, but it may not get there in time now for Afghanistan and some areas of Iraq. If you are including cards and decorations, it has to go Priority Mail now. Packages to the Army hospital in Germany need less time. The post office offers a $2 discount to Army Post Office (APO) destinations on the LARGE Flat Rate boxes only which will end up costing you about $10 to ship. For candy sent AFTER the holidays, and no arrival deadling, regular mail is all that's necessary. Update 11/2/09: now that Halloween if over, you can just send your left-over candy Parcel Post.
  
• 
  
• The troops LOVE chocolate! Just like the rest of us! It's less likely to melt this time of year, but, make sure it is in a sealed bag. The US Postal Service requires any liquid (which the chocolate could become!) in sealed bags. If it is not in a manufacturers bag, then seal it in a Ziploc-style bag. No homemade/homebaked items allowed.
  
• 
  
• You will need to fill out a Customs Declaration form for each box. Getting the forms at the post office ahead of time, and partially filling in will help you once the candy starts arriving.
• Cards: You can buy packages of Halloween cards to include in the boxes, or, make your own. No name on the outside of the cards please. Our contacts will hand them out. Paper products are fun too (plates, napkins, silly stuff.)
  
• 
  
• Notes: You might want to include a note in each box to inform the troops of your name, address, and/or email address, to let them know who sent the goodies. Be sure to add that you got their name from "Aunt Nancy USA" but, that their name is NOT available online.

After Halloween:

Last year dozens of boxes of Halloween candy were sent to our troops using leftover goodies. School, families, and neighbors collected. It made the soldiers happy AND probably saved us a few extra pounds on the hips! Regular Parcel Post is the cheapest when no arrival deadline is required. The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is low on candy for the wounded troops so let's get them some.

If you want to do that, let me know.

Then, get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Christmas packages need to be mailed to Iraq & Afghanistan by Thanksgiving week. IF you use Priority Mail, you can mail in early December for Baghdad. So it's already time to start organizing. Most people don't really think about it until Thanksgiving. Then, it's almost too late.

I will again be asking people to participate in sending filled Christmas stockings to our wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany (LRMC). They like to begin handing out the goodies to our troops who arrive starting at Thanksgiving, and right up through New Year's Day. Take a look down the left side of this blog for pictures from previous years. LRMC has asked for 500 stockings this year. They also need knit caps and gloves for wounded troops being flown in cold helicopters.

And lastly, I will be out of town FOUR weeks between now and Christmas, including time out of the country. So, the earlier you contact me, the better chance I have of getting to you.

THANKS EVERYONE!!

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Halloween! and other upcoming holiday planning

Group email sent 9/27/09:

Hello friends and family,

How can October be coming this week? The temperatures in the deserts are just starting to cool off just a bit -- "only" 97 degrees in Baghdad; and a "chilly" 84 in Kabul today! Yet, it's time for thinking about the holidays for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

HALLOWEEN is just around the corner, considering shipping time. We only need 10 days for Priority Mail to Baghdad, but for our troops in Afghanistan, I'm not really sure. I know it can take 6 weeks for regular mail. Priority Mail much quicker, but it depends on where your particular soldier is stationed. If you have an estimate from your own packages, let me know.

One soldier emailed me today to say they have celebrated NO holidays since arriving in Afghanistan this Spring. She thought some candy and paper decorations would be great fun. Thanksgiving even more so.

So please be encouraged to send something to your soldier very soon, and plan for THANKSGIVING treats and greeting cards. (You can also send left-over Halloween candy, but getting goodies ahead of time is more thoughtful).

CHRISTMAS packages should be sent Priority Mail around Thanksgiving, so it's not that far off either. The Army hospital in Germany likes to pass out Christmas stockings to wounded soldiers arriving starting on Thanksgiving Day, therefore you early birds can get started now!

Since I will be out of the country after Thanksgiving Week, I ask all of you to plan ahead more than usual for Christmas sign-ups.

If you don't have an individual soldier of your own to support but would like to help with some holiday projects/goodies, you know I can help you do that! The chaplains love to collect and pass out our treats.

Check the blog regularly for updates, and please do not respond to this email address. It just doesn't work correctly anymore.
Email me at: usanancy@gmail.com Thanks!

Nancy

--

PS: The US Army hospital in Germany is looking for candy for our wounded troops too.
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Send your extra Halloween candy to the Troops!

If you have a bunch of left over Halloween candy consider sending it to the troops! They love it, and they often use it to pass along to the grateful children in Iraq and Afghanistan!

Make it a family, office, or Scout project!
And don't worry, the troops prefer melted chocolate to NO chocolate!

Candy is quite heavy, so in this case if often pays to use the FLAT RATE Priority Mail boxes. You pay one price regardless of weight. (about $8 to $10 a box). Get some boxes first from the post office and compare costs. There's really no hurry now so if parcel post works out cheaper use that. It will depend on how much you mail. The USPS offers a $2 discount on some Priority Mail boxes to Army Post Offices (APO) so make sure you get the right ones!

Another option: separate the candy and use any non-Halloween looking treats to fill up some Christmas stockings for the troops! These should be mailed by Thanksgiving.

Whenever you send something, be sure to let the troops know you received their name from "Aunt Nancy" at "Aunt Nancy USA".

Email me at nancy@auntnancyusa.com and I'll tell you were to send it!

Be sure to include a note with your name and address, indicating you have checked the candy. No homebaked nor homemade food should be sent. Store bought only, in original packaging.

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Send your HALLOWEEN CANDY to the troops!

Got leftover candy? Kids get too much?
Consider sending it to our soldiers in Iraq!

Invite your school or office join in!

Not only will you save your children's teeth, and your hips, the troops will love it, and, often share it with the war-torn Iraqi kids. It's a great relationship builder!

Candy IS heavy, so if you use PRIORITY MAIL make sure you use FLAT RATE BOXES! My experience says it will save you half the cost. The boxes are free and the postage is $8.95 regardless of the weight. Check box sizes on the US Postal Service website. There are only two sizes. http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=13359&productId=11697&langId=-1 Parcel Post will be cheaper and might make more sense since there is no hurry now.

One friend at JCI in Michigan put a box out by his office door and collected 100 lbs of candy! I just bought some extra bags for 75% off at the grocery store. So there are some great deals going on!

Send it to:
REQUEST NAME if you don't have a soldier.