My name is Sergeant Carlos Valdez. I just received my care package from Operation Shoe Box today and I felt a need to email you guys back home and thank you for all the help and support all the volunteers have given to soldiers like myself. It’s been a while since I received mail here and this was definitely a moral booster. I would also like to thank Eleanor Sullivan from Summerfield Florida for the lovely card sent in my package, please let her know that her kind words didn’t go unnoticed and that they lifted my spirits while being away from home. Again than you for everything, keep up the hard work and may God Bless you all.

My name is Lewis and I am a Warrant Officer in the US Army stationed at Kandahar, Afghanistan. My unit received your care packages the other day and I want to say thank you! The cookies and Cracker Jacks are always fun to get, but I was mostly touched by a simple handwritten note from Ruth Salerno. The soldiers here do our job because we love our fellowman and we still believe in America. We do not seek accolades, yet I find it very satisfying (and humbling) to know you believe in us. You call us Heroes, but the real Heroes are folks like you who make America great and worth defending!

Just a quick note to say thanks for the care packages that you sent over to the 371st SUS BDE. The soldiers really like the items and even more is the fact that there are people like you that care and think about us while we are away from our families. So again I am very thankful to you. Thanks, thanks thanks.