Operation Shoebox- Using Social Media for Social Good

Over the holidays, Chatty Gal Deb and I teamed up with some spirited volunteers and very generous sponsors (more on that later) for an excellent cause- sending care packages to troops stationed overseas.

Operation Shoebox was founded in 2003 to send support to troops who are fighting on our behalf, and in most cases, in less than pleasant conditions. Though they run several programs, including Adopt-a-Troop and Penpals for Troops, they also accept one time donations during the holidays, as well as year round.

The goal was to send 50 care packages to Operation Shoebox, and our amazing sponsors came through in full force. Be sure to check out the full list of people we couldn’t have done this without, including our blogger friends and corporate buddies who were willing to donate time/money/blog space and more enthusiasm than a cheerleading convention!

Since shipping packages to the Operation Shoebox offices just to have them pay for shipping again to send the packages to the troops seemed silly, and they are located here in Florida, Deb and I made the trip to their offices.  We were welcomed and given a personal tour (and quite a few laughs) by their amazing volunteers. Check out the video and photos from our experience here:

Photo Tour

Operation Shoebox Headquarters: Belleview, FL

A few things we learned from our trip to the headquarters:

• It’s best not to individually wrap boxes, just bring the items in bulk (oops)- they have to sort through them and make sure everything in the shipment is approved
• Shipping is EXPENSIVE for them to send items to the troops
  
• Hygiene products are needed
• Condoms, while fun and thoughtful, are not approved
• There is such a thing as too much candy
• Even if they can’t use items in care packages, they use them at the thrift store, food bank, etc.
• Ramen noodles are good cooked or crunchy
• Charge your camera battery before a long trip!

Unfortunately my camera died ¾ of the way through the tour, but did you see the tons of packages and boxes they have?!  They sorted through that all and have already sent it out, so if you are interested in helping out but can’t visit Operation Shoebox in Belleview, FL, here’s a list of suggested items.

The packaging party and surrounding support were all thanks to the following bloggers and friends:

• Deb and Tim Schroeder-ChattyGal & eMonetized (@ChattyGalBlog & @eMonetized)
• Drew, Allison and Eva Bennett- BenSpark & SparkySocial (@BenSpark & @AlSparky)
• Vanessa Dodd Swanepoel & Juliet Dodd Keane- PokenGirl (@PokenGirl)
• Ashley Edwards- Our local guru &  IZEA rockstar (@Social_Citizen)
• Carri Bright- Marketer Extraordinaire & IZEA rockstar (@BrightGirl)
• Derek Bender- Top-notch Designer, NFi Studios (@DerekBender)
• Jutta Geisler- Creative Design master, MarketLeverage
• Trisha Lyn- Affiliate Marketing Mastermind and Podcast Diva
• Hayley, our creative photographer who doesn’t have a web site…yet!
  

  Operation Shoebox Packing Party in Orlando, FL

Thank You for Your Help & Support

Thank you again to our amazing sponsors:

• 108 Pokens from DoYouPoken.com (To help keep in contact with friends when they return home)
• Over $500 worth of international calling cards from Pingo.com (Giving our troops the ability to call friends and family back home)
• 50+ XShots from Michael and the XShot.com team  (To help take those self-portraits)
• Packing space and happy hour specials from Orlando Ichiban
• Hundreds of sample gift bags of Burn Cream MD from Healing Skin (takes the sting out of all kinds of burns)
• 1000’s of pens and pencils from Pentel of America & GBL Public Relation (They will never run out of supplies to write home with)
• 50+ American flag pins from the Charm Factory (To keep their spirits up and display their American pride)
• 50 Gatorade vouchers from Quaker Oats (To keep our troops hydrated)
• 50 one-time use cameras from Fuji Film (Sure to help with those self-portraits)
• 100+ shirts from Izea (To rock out in style internationally)
• 100+ shirts from Carpe Diem Sales and Marketing (Long sleeves to help fight the cold)

Dina is a freelance event planner and social media/marketing consultant through TheFreelancerNetwork, a national agency connecting clients with top online media contractors. Dina also works with MarketLeverage Interactive Advertising as their Marketing and Social Media Manager. Dina on Twitter. Dina on Linkedin.

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