Organizations That Send Care Packages to Troops: Full List

Figures and processes in this table come from Soldiers’ Angels’ care package page and the USASOA care package page.

Organizations that send care packages to troops include Soldiers’ Angels, USASOA, Forgotten Soldiers, Troopathon and Treat the Troops. The right one depends on whether you have items, money or a specific service member in mind.

Each group runs its own process, so read this list alongside our wider guide to troop care packages. The sections below are grouped by what you are trying to do, with the limits of each option stated plainly.

If you have items to donate

Item donations suit people who can shop or collect supplies and want an established nonprofit to handle packing and shipping to deployed service members. The three groups below each describe what they want, and following their lists matters more than guessing.

Soldiers’ Angels

Soldiers’ Angels lists snacks, hygiene products, games, comfort items such as socks and hats, and puzzle books as the items it collects for care packages. According to its own description of the process, items come to its office in San Antonio, where staff and local volunteers sort them before packing. It suits donors who want a broad, general-purpose destination for everyday supplies. The limit is that it also asks for money to cover shipping, so a box of items is only part of what a care package needs.

United Soldiers and Sailors of America (USASOA)

USASOA says it receives requests for specific items from various service members and military units, both in the States and worldwide, and it publishes the list on its care package page. Donors mail items to its office in Accokeek, Maryland 20607. This option suits someone who prefers to shop from a request list rather than a general wish list. Check that list before you buy, because the group is responding to stated needs rather than accepting anything.

Forgotten Soldiers

Forgotten Soldiers packs every “We Care” package with requested items, and it invites donors to give items that go into those packages, as described on its item page. Its most requested categories are hygiene items such as wipes, chapstick, sunscreen and deodorant, along with hydration mixes, nuts and tuna, coffee and tea, and socks and shirts. It suits donors who like a clear priority list. It is less suited to novelty gifts, since the packing approach centres on what troops have asked for.

If you are not sure what to buy

The overlap between the lists is the safest guide. Where two groups name the same category, stocking it is unlikely to be wasted.

• Hygiene supplies: Both Soldiers’ Angels and Forgotten Soldiers name hygiene products. Wipes, chapstick, sunscreen and deodorant are the examples Forgotten Soldiers gives.
• Snacks and pantry foods: Soldiers’ Angels lists snacks, and Forgotten Soldiers names nuts and tuna, hydration mixes, coffee and tea.
• Comfort clothing: Socks appear on both lists, with hats from Soldiers’ Angels and shirts from Forgotten Soldiers.
• Entertainment: Soldiers’ Angels names games and puzzle books. Treat these as an add-on after the practical categories.

Before you shop, open the donation page of the group you plan to use and match its current wording. A group that packs only requested items will not necessarily want a surplus of anything else.

If you would rather give money

Money donations suit people with no time to shop or pack, and they address the part of a care package that items cannot cover, which is postage.

Soldiers’ Angels shipping costs

Soldiers’ Angels states that it takes monetary donations to cover the cost of shipping boxes overseas, and that it costs about $18 per box, using USPS Large Flat Rate boxes. It also says it takes two weeks for the boxes to arrive to service members, per its care package journey page. A cash gift suits anyone who wants the packing handled by staff and local volunteers. If you want to gather money from friends, a workplace or a community group first, our guide on how to raise money for care packages for troops covers that step.

USASOA donations and collection drives

USASOA accepts money donations and encourages donors to consider holding a care package collection drive, according to its care package page. That makes it a fit for a group that wants to collect items and funds together rather than give individually. A drive takes organizing effort, so it makes most sense when several people are contributing.

If you want to request a package for someone you know

Two groups on this list take requests from people who already know a recipient, so you do not need to pack or ship anything yourself. In both cases the organization manages the packing and addressing through its own request process, which is why you go through the group rather than sending a recipient’s details around informally.

Troopathon

Troopathon says on its request page that requesting a package is completely free, with no obligation to donate, and that every box includes a personal, handwritten note from its supporters. It suits families who want a free, personal package for a deployed service member. The handwritten note is a good fit if the message matters more to you than the contents.

Treat the Troops

Treat the Troops describes itself as a nonprofit with the mission of letting deployed American military personnel know that people at home remember them. It bakes, packages and ships baked goods for troops free of charge, and its homepage offers an online form headed “Request Cookies For Your Loved One.” It suits someone who wants to send a treat rather than supplies. Because the program centres on baked goods, it will not replace a package of hygiene items or socks.

If the service member is a stranger to you, the route is different. Our guide on how to send a care package to a soldier you don’t know explains how that works.

If you want to support one service member over time

Soldiers’ Angels offers an adoption model for donors who prefer a continuing connection to a one-off gift. Its page describes supporting an adopted deployed member with at least one care package per month. This suits individuals or groups able to commit regularly, and it is a heavier commitment than a single donation. The group also says it sends care packages to combat deployed service members very frequently throughout the year, so donors are joining an existing program rather than starting from scratch.

The same page traces the program to 2003, when a volunteer and her husband bought enough supplies to make 40 shoe-box sized care packages and sent one per day for six weeks. That origin explains why the group still centres on practical, hand-packed boxes.

Checking an organization before you give

Every group above describes its mission and process on its own website, and those descriptions are the organizations’ own statements. Treat them as a starting point and confirm the legal status independently.

• Look up the legal name: Search the organization’s exact name in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and compare the listing with the name and location on its website.
• Match the donation type: Confirm whether the group wants items, money or both, using the instructions on its own donation page. Soldiers’ Angels and USASOA both describe item and monetary giving, while Troopathon’s request page and Treat the Troops’ homepage centre on requests.
• Read the mission statement: The wording should match what you want your gift to do, whether that is shipping boxes, filling requested items or sending baked goods.
• Add outside context: A charity rating site can supply information that an organization’s own pages will not.

Do this before sending a donation, not after. A few minutes of checking is proportionate whether you are mailing a box or giving money online.

Frequently asked questions