Operation Santa Bags is in full swing!
 I went to "Any Soldier.com and selected a couple of groups this year.  Typically they only have a handful of troops to help out, but I'm sure there's more to that than we think. these individuals are base out of NC, so more than likely, Camp Lejune, New River Air Station, Cherry Point, Ft. Bragg; that tells me that these brave soldier's are from our community.   So I am reaching out to those individuals to see what we can do to send them a little package of LOVE.  We have a sweet individual that donated fabric for the Santa Bags, yes, we sew these our selves. Thank you Ms. Sharon! and one of our loyal supporters has hand knitted hats to go under their helmets (We thank you Ms. Cecelia).  We are very blessed to have this kind of support.  Our local dentist has donated toothpaste, tooth brushes, and dental floss.  Thank You to Dr.& Mrs Michael Levine.

We need your HELP!

Your asking how, this is what you or your group can do to help!

We need funds for shipping.  Last year we spent over $ 350.00 on shipping.  We reached out to 135 troops, That was awesome!  The joy of knowing they all appreciate all that we offered!

We need these thing for this years project!

We just received a special request for warm gloves, one of our contacts say they are really needing these because where they are is getting extremely cold.  If you can help with this they would really appreciate it more than you know. We are needing approximately 75 pairs, and if we can get 10-15 folks that will commit to purchasing these we would have enough for everyone.

Hot Chocolate (lots of it)
Individual packets of Gatorade (lots of it)
Hand Warmers enough for 2-3 sets in each Santa bag
Candies such as: skittles, jolly ranchers, tootsie rolls, fire balls, peanuts, starlight peppermints, beef jerky or slim jims are a big hit!. etc
Candy Canes
toiletries such as shampoo, lotion, sanitizers, body wash, conditioners. sun screen, chap sticks, baby wipes, individual packs of tissues
games, footballs, playing cards
letter from school children thanking them for their service.
Christmas Trees preferably 4ft or under, and I say trees because there will be more than 1 group to reach out too this year.
Sports magazines, health magazines or just some good reading material.

Operation Santa Bag Ships first packages with more to come.

Dear Friends:

Just wanted to update eveyone on our progress.  A total of 5 packages have been shipped so far, with many more to be shipped tomorrow.  I would like to Thank everyone for their contributions this year.
We adopted 126 Marines from Camp Lejune, NC and I am very excited about what we accomplished this year.  There are a number of items which we have come to realize are important to our
troops.  Knitted hats to go under their helmets, hand warmers are just a couple of things are are very important to them.  So to all that donated this year!  Thank You from the bottom of my heart and theirs.  Our donors for this year were:

Mike Becker, Hampstead, NC
Carolyn Becker, Jacksonville, NC
Dr. & Mrs. Daniel Maggio, Wilmington, NC
Dr. & Mrs. Michael Levine
Dr. Mark Davini, Cape Code MA
Harper Family, Wilmington, NC
Ms. Bunny W., Wilmington, NC
Ms. Joan S, Wilmington, NC
DJ & Hunter B, Wilmington, NC
Woodall Family, Wilington, NC
Ladies Cape Fear Optimist, Wilmington, NC
Mr. Fred H., Wilmington, NC
John & Susan T., Wilmington, NC
Ms. C, Wilmington, NC
Ms. Mary Lee R, Wilmington, NC
Ms. Betty, Wilmington, NC
Ms. Kerri & Beverly A., Wilmington, NC
Ms. Cathy G, Wilmington, NC

We now have an e-mail. If anyone has any questions regarding Operation Santa Bag 2010 or would like to help with donations you can contact us by e-mail. operationsantabag20103@live.com 
Thank you for your support,
Pat Becker & Cathy Thomas-Baker

It's that time of year!  Operation Santa Bags will need all the help they can get!  We currently we have a group of Marines heading to Afghanistan in August.  We need your help, this group will have 120 troops that will not be home at Christmas.  How many of you will step up to the plate.  I will be updating our wish list and all donations will be appreciated.  Card makers! needed, our troops love getting our homemade cards, this is something you can even get your children involved it!  Book markers, kids love making these and our troops love them, just have them send a little message on the bookmarkers.  You can refer to our Operation Santa Bags wish list for the items needed for these care packages.
As always we thank everyone for all the help over these past several years doing this project.
You can contact me a starbethlehem@live.com or call me (910) 470-1297

Thank You,

Pat & Cathy

Our Visit to Ft. Dix, NJ 340th PSYOP, November 22,2011

Thank You Notes From Our Troops of The 340th PSYOP, Ft. Dix,NJ

On Tuesday November 22nd Operation Santa Bag took a road trip to Ft. Dix, NJ to deliver 88 Santa Bags to a group of Soldiers that are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan on December 20th.  My sister and I hopped in the car from her house in Elmira, NY and started our journey.  It was a long day, however it was so worth every mile.  We got to meet the 1st Sgt, and the CO of this fine group.  As we set up the Christmas Tree, and placed the bags around it, we chatted with those who had greeted us at the visitors center.  They presented me with a certificate of appreciation and wanted us to know how much they appreciated our efforts to give this group a small token of our appreciation for doing what they do everyday, keeping us here at home safe.  Yesterday Monday December 5th I came home to a stack of mail from this group!  Needless to say as I read every note I was crying with a joy that I can't explain other than it was something that I had not expected.  Thank You to everyone who participated in this years project, and again we couldn't do this without all your help!  Yes! January will start a new year, and we plan to start planning for next year's project even earlier.  We reached out to 186 troops this year, so will next year be 200-250 that will depend on how much help we can get throughout this upcoming year!  Want to help?  contact my sister Cathy or myself! Or if you would like to help expand "Operation Santa Bag to your area I will help you get started!  It's rewarding, and our troops need to hear from us!

Thank You

Pat & Cathy

Operation Santa Bag Goes to Ft. Dix, NJ

Operation Santa  Bag delivered 88 Santa Bags to Ft. Dix, NJ on Tuesday November 22, 2011.  Needless to say our visit was great.  We had the opportunity to meet the 1st Sgt. and the Commander of the 340th. Operation Santa Bag was really excited about delivering their care package in person, we set up the
Christmas Tree and placed the Santa Bags under it for our troops.  To everyone who contributed to this years care packages I can't say Thank You enough.  We mailed out 13 other packages to troops currently serving in Afghasistan.  We could not have done this without your help!  Thank You! and Thank You!