Operation America Cares was born when two sisters, Linda and Roberta, living in the San Diego area, discovered that there were military men and women serving far from home in Iraq and Afghanistan who were receiving no mail or care packages from home. This was not acceptable to us, and we decided to take action.

Our goal is to show our deployed servicemen and women who are far from home and the flag that we love them support them and appreciate the sacrifices they are making for all of us. Although we do not have family members currently serving in the military, our father is a retired Air Force veteran. Being “Air Force Brats,” we were raised with patriotic pride and appreciation for this great country and what it stands for.

At Christmas 2008, we were able to obtain an address for our first shipment from a deployed friend, and we sent 35 care packages. We asked our friends and family to donate items or money to purchase what we needed for the boxes. Operation America Cares was born!!

We have compiled a list of needed items based on feedback and requests from troops who have received our packages. We continually change and update the care packages to keep them relevant based on the season and the location of the troops. Oftentimes troops are in places where it is difficult to obtain even the basic necessities. Our military makes every effort to provide the necessities; it is essential that food, water, and munitions are a priority and get safely to the outlying areas. It is not always possible to get toiletries, and certainly non-luxury items like snacks and magazines to deployed troops.

We use the US Postal Service ($16.10 per box fixed rate) to mail our care packages. The military makes every effort to deliver mail to the deployed troops, and our boxes consistently make it into forward operating areas and into the hands of the troops that need them most.

Since that first shipment in 2008, we have sent over 27,000 care packages to our troops.