Soldiers Angels - Baker Angels

Soldiers Angels

I normally don't post much on my blog about the volunteer work I do. Partly because, until I retired, I didn't have time to do very much volunteering but also partly because, it sometimes sounds like bragging "hey, look at me, I'm doing volunteer work, are you?" Which is not the point of doing volunteer work. You don't do it for the gratitude or attention or recognition. You do it because it's the right thing to do. In Filipino culture, giving back is a way of sharing your blessings. There's no thought of "socialism" that you're somehow helping other people "too lazy" to help themselves and work hard like you do so they'll just benefit from your work. Nope. That's not how it is. It's acknowledging the blessings you've gotten through hard work, opportunities, circumstances, and (more than likely) other people helping you to get to where you are. And it's giving back by sharing what you've been blessed with to show your own gratitude for what you've received.

On this day, Veterans Day, there's nothing more fitting than giving back to our military personnel, active duty and retired. I was fortunate enough to discover a nonprofit called Soldiers Angels (a 4-star rated charity on charitynavigator.org) which allows people to do just that. It's nice to display a flag or "like" posts from other people posting memes about honoring our veterans. As someone once said though, that isn't activism, that's typing. Soldiers Angels lets you do more than typing.

Their holiday program lets you sign up to contribute filled stockings to distributed to veterans, active duty military members and their families. They have a list of suggestions for stocking stuffers and I bought as many as I could stuff into the three stockings I signed up to contribute: crew socks, beanies, beef jerky, hot chocolate mix packets, holiday note cards and post its and holiday candy. Their goal is to gather 15,000 stockings and, last time I checked, they had received nearly enough pledges to meet their goal.

What spoke even more to me was the opportunity to become an "Angel Baker". As an angel baker, for $1 a month to Soldiers Angels (to maintain their database costs), I can sign up to send a care package of homemade baked goods to a deployed military service member. The minimum is 1 package a month to a soldier but you can send as many as you choose. Is that a perfect volunteer opportunity for me or what???

wrap individual brownies tightly to prevent drying out

I sent my first package last week and packaged up brownies, the White Velvet Sugar Cookies and World Peace Cookies (post to follow; they're one of the best chocolate cookies I've ever made - stay tuned). I used this recipe for the brownie and added chopped up Snickers as the mix-in. Brownies are easy to send in the mail since they're sturdy, durable and will keep longer than cookies, especially when wrapped properly.

White Velvet Sugar Cookies

When sending baked goods through the mail, air and movement are the enemies. It's important for baked goods, especially cookies, to be wrapped securely to prevent air from drying them out sooner than later. 

You also want to pack things in snugly so they won't move much during transit. Movement leads to breakage. Fortunately, brownies don't break but cookies do so make them snug in that shipping box.

It's also important to label what you're sending so your recipient knows what they're getting and when they share with their unit, anyone with allergies can make informed choices of what to eat from your package.

The brownies that went into the package

Flat rate priority mailing boxes from USPS are a boon for sending these packages. They're free from the post office and ship for one flat rate (mine was $14.35), no matter how heavy the box is. Be aware though that the soldier's address will likely be an APO/AE mailing address which will require a customs form so you might want to fill that out before you get to the USPS teller window.

Lastly, I included a handwritten note to the soldier to thank them for their service and remind them their duty and sacrifices are recognized and appreciated. Because they are. More than I can type.

There are many opportunities to contribute to and volunteer with Soldiers Angels, no matter where you're located so I hope you take a look at their website and, if you're so inclined, do what feels right to you to support our veterans and active duty military and their families. Happy Veterans Day.