Drive for the Deployed

04/22/2026

CARE PACKAGE DRIVE UPDATE:

We are truly overwhelmed by this community’s generosity! Through our Amazon wish list, we’ve received dozens of packages for our service members- filled with hygiene essentials, protein snacks, entertainment, supplements, and hydration items.

If you’ve been thinking about contributing, there are still a few items left on the list. With summer approaching, hard candies are especially appreciated to help with dry mouth in the heat.

Your continued support means more than we can say, and it’s never taken for granted. Thank you for showing up for our service members in such a meaningful way!❤️🤍💙

Amazon Wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/IHGN524UDEJB?ref_=wl_share

04/09/2026

Drive for the Deployed – Donation Drop-Off Reminder 🇺🇸

Tonight from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
📍 Immanuel Lutheran Church
(Beside the Bluefield, WV Police Department)

Please knock on the door, and someone will come out to collect your donation.

If you want to participate remotely, please see our Amazon Wish List link in the comments. Thank you for your generosity and for supporting our service members .❤️

04/02/2026

We just made it even easier to support the care package drive!

Our Amazon list is now live—just choose an item and it will ship directly to us.

Every contribution helps us send something meaningful to deployed service members.

We would like to thank the Mercer County Teacher Federal Credit Union for sponsoring the shipping costs for our care packages. Thank you for always supporting our mission. ❤️🤍💙

03/31/2026

03/31/2026

Update those addresses!!!

03/02/2026

As we move into a new season of supporting our deployed service members, I want to gently remind everyone about the importance of OPSEC, Operational Security.

For our seasoned military families, this is second nature. But for new military spouses and parents, this can feel overwhelming and even scary. When someone you love deploys, your instinct is to talk about it, post about it, share updates, ask for prayers, and feel connected. That is completely human.

Just remember, protecting details protects them.

That means
No specific locations
No departure or return dates
No movement details
No countdown posts
No sharing information from private groups

Even small details can piece together a bigger picture.

If you are new to this life and feeling anxious, please know this. You are not alone, and it is okay to feel unsure. We have all been there. Lean on those of us who have walked it before you. Ask questions privately. Reach out when you are worried.

Being mindful of OPSEC is not about fear. It is about love. It is one more way we protect the people who protect us.

We can still support loudly, pray boldly, and love fiercely. We just do it wisely.

We have got you. 🇺🇸💛

02/28/2026

A message from our Board of Directors in response to today’s news of the 5th fleet bombing and other attacks:

It is with an extremely heavy heart that this has to be our first post leading into the beginning of our 2026 care package season, which starts tomorrow. We had hoped to begin this season with celebration and gratitude, but instead we are stepping into it under the weight of difficult news. Even so, this is exactly why we do what we do. Supporting our service members and their families is steady work. It matters in every season.

Amid all that divides us and the attacks on our US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, it can feel like the world is moving faster than we can steady ourselves. The headlines keep coming, and the noise rarely quiets. It is easy to feel anxious, frustrated, or even hardened by it all. But our faith is meant to lean on God every single day, in every circumstance, when times are comfortable and when times are not.

So this morning, we pray.

Heavenly Father,

Our hearts feel heavy. You see what is happening in our world and in our nation, and You see the fear and uncertainty it brings. Your Son told us there would be wars and rumors of wars. He warned that the world would be shaken and that our faith would be tested, not so we would live in fear, but so we would be prepared to stand firm when the shaking comes.

In this season of Lent, we remember that Jesus Himself was tested for forty days in the wilderness. He faced temptation. He faced exhaustion. He faced the schemes of the enemy. And the enemy did not win. Darkness did not win. The testing did not defeat Him.

So when our faith feels tested, remind us that testing is not the same as defeat, and help us lean on You more, not less.

We ask for peace, not only in distant places, but in our own spirits. Guard our hearts from becoming bitter. Protect us from cynicism. Keep us from allowing division to take root in us.

We pray for protection over those standing on the front lines today. Strengthen them. Shield them. Be near to every service member and to every family waiting at home. Surround them with courage, clarity, and safety.

Teach us how to respond faithfully. Help us stay informed without being consumed. Help us care deeply without losing hope. Show us how to support one another consistently, to stand beside military families in every season, and to be steady voices when everything else feels loud and uncertain.

When the world feels unsteady, anchor us in Christ. When our faith feels tested, give us the courage to hold fast.

We place this season, our service members, and our nation into Your hands.

In Christ, our Lords, powerful name we pray.

Amen.

12/04/2025

Several of our return volunteers have been inquiring about our upcoming care package party, we are currently working with our sponsor to nail down a date- which is difficult to do this time of year! Just know the wheels are in motion and we will most definitely put you to work when we have everything worked out! 🤩

10/07/2025

Even though this predates DFTD, we wanted to share.

The office is humming today, filled with the usual conversations about work, plans, and everyday life. There’s a quiet comfort in that normalcy. Still, my mind has drifted back a few years.

Twenty-four years ago today, the public chapter of Operation Enduring Freedom began. None of us could have imagined how our lives would intertwine with the lives of those serving. A few weeks later, we “adopted” seventeen Marines, determined to support them from afar, and, without realizing it, sent what might have been the world’s worst care packages. 🤣

The only way they could have been worse is if we’d added black licorice and AARP magazines. Between the three-month mail delay and our rookie mistakes, those cookies packed beside Irish Spring soap had plenty of time to “marinate.” 🤣
To this day, I’m grateful for their grace and for their willingness to eat those soapy cookies anyway. We were young, unsure, and learning as we went. I like to think those one-blade razors still gave them the best shave of their lives.🤣

Every year on this date, I call our first “adopted,” Jeffrey. Without fail, he answers with a laugh:

“No, I don’t want anymore Irish Spring cookies.”

It took years before we could laugh about those memories years, shadowed by loss, sadness, and for them survivors guilt. But eventually, we learned to hold both truths: the grief and the laughter, the heaviness and the hope. And I’m deeply grateful we’ve been able to walk through all of it together, especially them and their families. I’m so happy to see them in their second careers with families all thriving in some way.

So today, if you find yourself hesitating to smile, laugh, or let a little light back in because of the weight you carry, whether it be connected to the catalyst that was this day or not , please, pause.

It’s okay to laugh. It’s okay to remember the good and tender moments alongside the hard ones.

Because joy doesn’t erase sorrow, it helps us survive it.

P.S. Our care packages have gotten a whole lot better. Sign up today for support- Soap cookies not included.