Does anyone have family in Iraq???

The reason I'm asking is I adopted a soldier last week and am going to send an Easter basket to him but I don't know if chocolate will make it to him without being melted and making a big mess. If I do send it I will wrap it really well and put it in a ziplock bag. I know it might not look really cute but atleast if it does melt it won't ruin everything. I would really appreciate any advise I could get.

Thank you very much!!!

I work army families and have been told by many that chocolate is a very iffy thing to mail because, as you guessed, it melts easily!

Maybe something that isn't straight chocolate but like cookies instead or brownies. Do they let you send baked goods?

you can wrap it in a zip lock bag and then wrap it in some paper
But i have no iea what i could send to a soldier

The temperature in Iraq has been in the 90s recently. If you wanted to send chocolate something or other what about the easter oreos? Its just an idea. Plus with a lg package of oreos he or she can share it with his/her fellow soldiers. M&M's are easy to ship as well.

Originally Posted by Cirque

Maybe something that isn't straight chocolate but like cookies instead or brownies. Do they let you send baked goods?

Click to expand...

I was told to wait to send homemade items until the soldier get to know me because some units are told not to accept baked goods from people they don't know really well. I just adopted him last thursday so I better wait a while.

I did buy some gummy bunnies and eggs, starbursts that are packaged for Easter, sweet tarts, laffy taffy, nerds, marshmellow peeps, and of course jelly beans. I bought everything that I could find that didn't have chocolate. I also got a couple hand held games. I'm going to put a chicken that hatches gumballs (for a laugh).

Originally Posted by Ali012281

The temperature in Iraq has been in the 90s recently. If you wanted to send chocolate something or other what about the easter oreos?

Its just an idea. Plus with a lg package of oreos he or she can share it with his/her fellow soldiers.

M&M's are easy to ship as well.

Click to expand...

I did get a couple packages of M&M's to put in the basket. I'm also making an extra basket to send for the soldier to give to someone else who might need to be cheered up or didn't get anything. On saturday I sent his first 2 care packages and it had a package of oreo's. Thanks for the suggestions.

Thank you for doing this, Stacey. I know that anything from home means a lot to those soldiers.

My son is stationed in Iraq. The latest bunch of packages I sent to him included candy of various types, some word find type puzzle books, some batteries, some paperback books, a batch of computer gaming magazines, local newspaper, some pre-sweetened koolaid powder packets, a back massager (one of the ones from the dollar store), a couple of packs of playing cards, some miscellaneous CD's, some DVD's (most have access to someone with either a CD or DVD player somewhere), some pre-packaged cookies, cans of pringles, and some other stuff from the dollar store.

Things to avoid - candy that melts, baked goods without preservatives (figure 3 weeks in transit in hot/cold/dry/moist conditions. "Hey guys, the stuff in the package says brownies but they are more like greenies..." anything that you would not want to find in your 12 year old childs hands. ALCOHOL. Any tobacco products UNLESS you know who you are sending them to and they tell you its OK. Any magazines from the "top shelf" at the bookstore (even some of the ones like "Stuff" can be a little to over the top...) Anything that has LOTs of liquid in it.

Tips on packaging. Make sure you wrap it, bag it, pack it with the expectation that it will be thown onto a C130 and then OFF a Humvee and will probably BOUNCE in the process. Opps, forgot to mention the "no fragile or easily breakable" stuff either.

Hope this helps!

Mark
Proud parent of a son who he constantly reminds to keep his head down.

Thanks everyone for your help. I just sent the package and I didn't put any chocolate in it so hopefully it will make it to him OK.

My mom got me a fudge alligator recently, the box claims: "This gator travels well in the hottest weather" (can withstand temperatures up to 100 F). A delicious chocolate fudge confection poured into a plastic mold the shape of an alligator.
Directions: Remove alligator from plastic bag, turn flat side down, grasp edges of plastic mold and stretch to release fudge. Plastic mold can be re-used to make novel gelatin and frozen desserts.

It was very yummy by the way, tasted like very great fudge to me

You can find out more about them at:
Anastasia Confections, Inc. Orlando, FL. 32837
http://www.anastasiaconfections.com

Enjoy

By the way, this was "the original" Flordia "Fudge-a-Gator" that I ate.. although I have not yet seen it on their website.

My youngest bil came back this past Fall, and is headed back soon for a second tour. The kinds of things I sent, that he loved, included a 24 oz. package of smoked salmon (very reasonable from Costco) for Christmas 2003, which he shared and loved, instant hot cocoa's, instant oatmeal (his request), instant mac and cheese (his request), large amount of biscotti, instant Chai Tea Latte Mixes, and then more mundane things like bottles of Purell (no rinse hand sanitizer), moleskin for blisters and special blister bandages...

hth for later packages,

From people I know out there the biggest problem in their off-duty hours is boredom. So books, games, anything that can be shared or swapped as activities go down well.

I have some co-workers that may get sent over there.

No current family members that I am aware of over there.