military stationed around the world, with a focus on those who might not otherwise, wouldn't receive personal mail. In November of 2010 my husband and I went to tour our niece's ship. During the tour Heather mentioned that many of her fellow shipmates never get mail or packages. I decided that we could change that, so within 48 hours I reached out to friends, family, neighbors, clients and anyone
who would help. Through Facebook, Twitter, email and paper flyers we got the word out. Heather's job on the ship was in engineering, she was called "Turbo,” and since Heather was in charge of distributing the notes and goodies, we thought it made sense to call it Operation Turbo. Our goal was to make sure each sailor on the USS Stout would received a note of gratitude. This turned out to be just the beginning of Operation Turbo. In 2012 we organized “Operation Turbo: Afghanistan” with the help of a Marine named Rachel. They were suppose to be back before Christmas and when we found out their deployment was extended well into the new year. We couldn't let them be there for Christmas and not send them boxes. It was a three-week effort and was a great success. We shipped over 55 boxes of goodies, notes and artwork from students and girl scout troops. Operation Turbo has grown each year. We have sent to numerous ships, several Marine units and we are happy to say we are now sending boxes to a deployed Army troops too. Within the next calendar year we are projected to send 600 plus "Boxes of Home". In 2014 we become a 501 (c)(3) non-profit. There are many ways to get involved with OT. You can have your children draw pictures, donate prepackaged goodies or new toiletries, provide a monetary donation (the money will go to purchases, supplies and shipping costs), or just write notes of thanks (for security reasons, we ask that the notes be left the open). We have a “wish list” on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1H5W2ENPVMCLX/ref=topnav_lists_2
This is a favorite of many because they shop from their computer and it comes right to where we pack the boxes. We are currently working out of our home but growing fast enough that we are trying to find a space where we can be more productive to more of our boxes sent to our deployed U.S military. We have a limited budget so finding space is a bit of a challenge. Our volunteers pack and ship each box! Please visit our webpage and our page to find out more information about Operation Turbo. http://www.operationturbo.org/
https://www.facebook.com/OperationTurbo
You can also find us on Twitter
https://twitter.com/OperationTurbo
If you know someone who is deployed and would enjoy a "Box of Home" please get in touch with us, it would be our honor to send them a box that is pack just for them.
