The deadline is fast approaching for Iowans who would like to mail holiday packages to friends and loved ones in uniform who are serving overseas. There are some 80 U.S. military installations overseas and U.S. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins says you’ll need to act within the next several days to get packages in the mail if you hope for them to arrive before December 25th.
While packages to the troops need to be in the mail by Saturday, November 12th, Watkins says cards and letters need to be mailed by December 10th. He says you can get a free special kit for military mail. It contains: ten Priority Mail boxes and five “milipacs,” which includes ten customs forms and a roll of Priority Mail tape. Again, they’re free if you call 800-610-8734.
Watkins says Iowans can -no- longer send gifts to a random soldier. He says all packages and mail must be addressed to an individual servicemember, unlike in the past. Unspecified parcels will -not- be accepted by the postal service.
Watkins suggests checking with your local Red Cross or veterans’ group to see if they have a program for sending holiday greetings to “any” troop.