FORT Koffee Klatch

[Ellen]

i guess I'm a late bloomer at 55-ish. Luckily, even after two years*, hubby finds them more amusing than annoying. (Maybe because he sees them as not as bad as his stuff?)

*two years of 'flashes, but nearly 20 years of marriage

[JavaJo]

I have a request. My son is at Naval bootcamp right now, and while he gets a lot of mail, there are several guys in his division who haven't received any from their families and friends I feel awful for them. Woukd any of you be willing to send a card or note for Christmas to these guys? The address is:

DIVISION 064
SHIP 03, USS HOPPER, DIV 064
3600 OHIO STREET
GREAT LAKES, IL 60088

[Eastcoastmom]

I have a request. My son is at Naval bootcamp right now, and while he gets a lot of mail, there are several guys in his division who haven't received any from their families and friends I feel awful for them. Woukd any of you be willing to send a card or note for Christmas to these guys? The address is:

DIVISION 064
SHIP 03, USS HOPPER, DIV 064
3600 OHIO STREET
GREAT LAKES, IL 60088

JavaJo to whom should we address each individual card?

[NorwIndian]

JavaJo, I would absolutely love to do that. Like Eastcoastmom, I'm wondering who we address the cards to. Can we send little gifts too? Is there a list of things they need/want?

I have my seniors bought for, their gifts are wrapped and ready for pick up and I've dropped off my donations to the animal shelter. I'm just sitting here with nothing to do just waiting for Christmas, so I have the time and would love to do this.

Thank you JavaJo for thinking of them.

[Gutmutter]

I will be happy to do it, too. If we just send them to that address, will they give them to those who need them most?

[Eastcoastmom]

Yeah, that's what I was wondering too, Gut. I suppose we could address it to "any serviceman" or "any servicewoman", but that sounds so cold and impersonal to me.

[PGM35]

Yeah, that's what I was wondering too, Gut. I suppose we could address it to "any serviceman" or "any servicewoman", but that sounds so cold and impersonal to me.

I asked Mike since he was in the Army and he said they were always getting stuff from kids that wrote to them but he didn't know how they were addressed or how they got divided up. I want to do it too but just wondering how they get divided up or distributed out? Maybe send them to JavaJo's son and he can distribute them for us?

[Kip]

... Can we send little gifts too? Is there a list of things they need/want? ...

I don't think they're allowed many personal items during basic training. I'm wondering if it would be okay to send a chocolate bar or some hard candies. If anyone could use the calories, these guys and gals could!

[JavaJo]

JavaJo to whom should we address each individual card?

I don't know names. My son said to send them to the division in general. He didn't have time to give me names. My son will make sure they know the cards are for them. He's really stressed about it because he himself gets 3-4 letters per day. They get none.

As for gifts or care packages, nope. It's boot camp....they are stripped of everything and can only have the necessities, which are provided for them. Thank you for asking, though.

And thank you so much to those who will send a card. I'm sure it will help them to know people are thinking of them and are proud of them. You guys are the best! xoxo

[JohnnyK]

That's nice of us to do.

I said it before, but most (if I may need stress that word) of the people on here seem like pretty good people.

For me personally, I now have a couple at least that I can PM about stuff I can't share in the public forum.

And most of us seem mature and even when someone rants or has a tantrum *coughmecough*, the responses seem to contain patience and respect, not counter-outbursts like I've seen on other sites. Sometimes some responses piss me off a bit, but that's just on me.

And the staff here are good, too. I PM waywyrd all the time.

This other forum I went on a while ago, had most of their veteran members act like douchebags. They all acted like know-it-alls and didn't treat newer members too well. If someone didn't know something most of them know, they might have been called idiots. And yes those people were grown adults, too.

There was this gay teen forum I visited a while ago, but it quickly repelled me. Why? Blatant racism. Seriously. Whenever a black guy posts photos of himself, what responses does he get? "Your kind is not welcome here", etc. If it was some inside joke, I must have missed it, but it didn't seem that way to me. It pisses me off when gay people or other minorities thinks it's okay to hate on other minorities. Nobody should be hated on for who they are. The only people I hate are haters and ignorant people. Doesn't depend on what they look like.