Tag: military gifts

Volunteer Opportunities to Help Military Members

Jenifer Calandra

Plus, Say Thanks with an Armed Forces Care Package from My Hero Crate

You’ve seen military members make big sacrifices to our country, and you want to return the favor.

As a civilian with loved ones in the military, you probably already know of lots of opportunities locally to help out.

But if you don’t know anyone who could guide you to volunteer opportunities, then you might want to consider My Hero Crate’s five favorite ways to volunteer. Each requires a varying amount of resources and time, so you’re sure to find one that works for you.

 

Volunteer at VA Hospitals

Just like you’d see “candy stripers” at civilian hospitals, VA hospitals utilize volunteers. Hospital volunteers perform many tasks to help support medical staff and patients.

As a VA hospital volunteer, you might be asked to answer phone calls, direct visitors to the right hospital area, restock supplies, or deliver gifts to military patient rooms. You may even be asked to visit with hospitalized patients to keep them company. The ultimate goal is to free up time for medical staff to focus on providing patient care. 

 

Build Houses for Returning Disabled Troops

Homes for Our Troops is a nonprofit organization that builds houses for disabled servicepeople who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. They also adapt existing homes to accommodate those who served.

You can donate money or land, or help to build these homes if you have experience as a contractor, builder, or in other relevant trades.


Participate in a Letter-Writing Campaign

Operation Gratitude runs a letter-writing campaign in which anyone can write letters or short notes or send greeting cards to veterans and active military members to thank them for their service and connect with them.

It’s an especially wonderful opportunity if you have limited time or transportation resources, since you can participate from the comfort of your own home. And who doesn’t love receiving mail? At My Hero Crate, we know it better than most!

 

Employ Veterans in Your Business

Although not technically a volunteer opportunity, if you run your own business, you can become an employment partner with Hire Heroes USA to do your part.

Employment partners help veterans get jobs in their businesses after they receive job training. And if you, too, are a veteran, you can help provide that job training, assist with mock interviews, or provide career counseling to other veterans, using your experience working in your business.

 

Volunteer with the USO

Short for United Service Organization, the USO is vital in providing active service members through entertainment, military care packages, and transitional services.

When you volunteer with USO, you could do things like help organize special events, greet returning military members at homecomings, work the front desk at USO offices, and more. If you have special skills, the USO will find a place for you to help out locally.

 

Send a Military Care Package Today

Opportunities to volunteer to benefit our military members are numerous. 

But If you want to do something nice for your own loved one in the military, or you want to be sure your favorite veteran directly benefits from your actions, consider sending them a military care package from My Hero Crate.


Shop our full selection of snack boxes, holiday gifts, and themed care packages today, or subscribe to send a monthly gift to your loved one in the armed forces.

 

Five Reasons to Send a Monthly Military Subscription Box

Jenifer Calandra

My Hero Crate Makes Care Packages Easy!

One-time snack boxes are a wonderful gift – but what if you’re looking to send a present every single month? If you’ve ever wrestled with the complexity of sending a package to an APO address, then you know it’s not something you look forward to. But My Hero Crate is making the military care package game as simple as can be, and taking care of all the complicated work for you.

We’ve come up with five very important reasons you should send your hero a monthly military subscription box – but we’re sure once your hero receives it, they can come up with a few more!

You’ll save time shopping for care package items and organizing shipping.

Shopping for individual snacks, hygiene items, and fun surprises can be quite time-consuming. Rather than scurry from store-to-store looking for something unique to include, you could dedicate that time to doing something vital to running your household – and there’s always something to do, right?

My Hero Crate’s care package experts source gift items and assemble each box with great care. And because all our items are sourced from American distributors, we’re keeping our business right here in the U.S.A.! 

Your hero will have something to look forward to each month.

A monthly subscription box from My Hero Crate means your loved one in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, or National Guard will receive a new gift box every month, without fail, for as long as you’d like.

Soon, your loved one will know when to start counting down the days to their next gift. When they receive it and open it, they’ll be reminded of how much they’re loved and valued. It’s like sending them a big hug from home!

Our care packages are affordable.

For the cost of just 10 lattes, one tank of gas, or 40 lottery tickets, you can send a military care package anywhere in the world, with free shipping for APO, DPO, and FPO addresses.

And our care packages are a good value! Each gift box is completely filled before being sealed and shipped, so you know you’re getting your money’s worth.

Unique premium gift items are included each month.

Your hero won’t receive the same items month after month. Variety is the spice of life, and subscription boxes are meant to be varied, too.

Each military subscription box includes items like:

  • -Salty snacks: potato chips, beef sticks, pretzels, and more
  • -On-the-go snacks: granola bars, beef jerky, and more
  • -Quick meals: ramen noodles, mac ‘n’ cheese, breakfast oatmeal packets, and more
  • -Candy: America’s favorite fruity and chocolatey treats like Hershey’s bars, Starburst, and Skittles
  • -Personal care items: disposable face masks, cotton swabs, antibacterial wipes, tissues, and more
  • -Healthy snacks, like nuts, fruit snacks, protein bars, and more
  • -Premium gifts, such as a phone battery power bank, sunglasses, headphones, water bottle, and more

We donate to non-profit, veteran-backed organizations every month.

For every care package we sell, we donate a portion of our proceeds to a non-profit organization that’s doing great work for American veterans. Check out our website to see which organization we’re supporting this month.

Our donation is just one way we’re giving back to America’s heroes. Assembling meaningful gift boxes and shipping them to your hero is another.

Purchase a monthly gift box subscription online.

National Guard Heroes You Should Know

Jenifer Calandra

Wish a Happy Birthday to the National Guard on December 13

While you might not think of the National Guard when you think of American military forces, you really should! The National Guard is unique in that it serves both community and country. Members of the National Guard face deployments overseas just like other branches of the military, and must still undergo rigorous training; boot camp is the very same as that provided for the U.S. Army.

Meet some National Guard Heroes you should know as we observe the National Guard’s birthday this month.

Tammy Duckworth

After serving in the United States Army Reserve, Tammy Duckworth transferred to the Army National Guard in Illinois in 1996. In 2004, she was deployed to Iraq. On November 12, 2004, she lost both her legs when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade launched by Iraqi insurgents. Duckworth received a Purple Heart, an Air Medal, and an Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in 2014, as a lieutenant colonel. Currently, Tammy Duckworth is serving as a United States Senator for Illinois. 

Tulsi Gabbard

While serving in the Hawaii State Legislature, Tulsi Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003. A year later, she was deployed to Iraq and was shortly thereafter commissioned as a second lieutenant before being deployed to Kuwait in 2008. For her service, Gabbard received the Combat Medical Badge and the Meritorious Service Medal. She was promoted to major in 2015. Gabbard currently serves as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district.

Charles Lindbergh

American aviator Charles Lindbergh was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserves, during which time he received the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration, for completing the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York City and Paris. Before making history, he was a U.S. Air Mail pilot. When the Army no longer needed more active-duty pilots, Lindbergh joined the 110th Observation Squadron, 35th Division of the Missouri National Guard, out of St. Louis. He was promoted to captain in 1926.

John William Vessey Jr.

Jack Vessey Jr. was a career officer in the United States Army and served as the tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1982 to 1985, during the Reagan administration. Vessey began his 46-year military career by lying about his age to join the Minnesota Army National Guard. He succeeded, and his unit was deployed during World War II in North Africa and Italy. He served during the Cold War, Vietnam War, and in Korea, until 1979, when he was assigned as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Vessey is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, three Army Distinguished Service Medals, a Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of Merit awards, two Bronze Star Medals, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Leonard F. Wing

Red Wing Sr., as he was called, first enlisted in the U.S. Army for World War I and earned the rank of first lieutenant after completing officer training. After World War I, he was discharged in 1918 and established a law practice in Rutland, Vermont. In 1919, Wing joined the Vermont National Guard’s 172nd Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant and rose through the ranks until he was named colonel in 1933 and brigadier general in 1937 as commander of the 86th Infantry Brigade. Wing’s military awards and honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star. 

Scott Perry

Currently serving as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district, Scott Perry began his military career in 1980, upon enlisting in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from Pennsylvania’s Officer Candidate School before qualifying as a helicopter pilot. He served a variety of assignments, including during a deployment to Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2002 and 2003. He served in Iraq between 2009 and 2010, during which time he was credited with flying 44 missions and occurring nearly 200 combat flight hours. After serving in Iraq, Perry was promoted to colonel and commanded the garrison at Fort Indiantown Gap National Training Center and was promoted to brigadier general in November 2015. He retired from the Pennsylvania National Guard in 2019. 

Send Love to Your National Guard Hero!

At My Hero Crate, we know that our service members enlisted in the National Guard carry out important missions at home and abroad. They deserve our thanks every day! If you have a loved one in the National Guard, present them with one of our military care packages so they’ll be stocked up on snacks during their guard weekends and all the days in between. If they’re deployed, you can still send them one of our army snack boxes, too – and shipping is always free to FPO, DPO, and APO addresses.

© 2020 MY HERO CRATE