Shoeboxes for Sailors: First Box of Snacks for My Nephew

Shoeboxes with gifts of all kinds are great for brightening someone's day, not just children thru Operation Christmas Child.  It doesn't have to be someone in crisis, but just someone who needs to know they are loved and thought about.  Last week my nephew graduated from Navy boot camp.  We found out his new address Tuesday night and that he could receive goody boxes now.  So Wednesday I grabbed my largest, sturdiest shoe box a few packs of gum & gummy candy I had left from my Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing, and began baking M&M cookies while Sarah ran to the store to pick up some snack foods.

We wrote a few notes of why we choose some of the goodies like:

• using his grandmother's cookie recipe (who did not live long enough to see him become a grown man, but who would be the most proud of him)
• a regional snack from our area (we now live in the south)
• how some snacks were to jog his fond memories of his childhood (a "S'mores" to remind him of camping with his dad)
• and we took a cue from "A Few of My Favorite Things" and wrapped it brown paper for fun (no string, tho, just some packing tape).

So his mission is to help protect our nation, mine, to find new and creative things to pack in future shoe boxes for him and his sailor buddies!