Priority USPS boxes full of goodies will be delivered to the men and women serving stateside and overseas, with the packages arriving just in time for the holidays.
Organizers of the annual collection drive are accepting donations now through 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8. Letters or cards to the troops are also accepted, with local teachers always providing letters from schoolchildren to be included in the packages.
Letters from local schoolchildren.
Items being collected include personal care such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, eye drops, lip balm, bars of soap, disposable razors, nail clippers, emery boards, and nail files. Also travel size items of Kleenex, sunscreen, wet wipes, talc powder, foot powder, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, mouthwash, hand sanitizer, lotion, creams, plus word-find or crossword puzzle books.
Food items include ramen noodles, small individual snack packs of cookies, crackers, trail mix, or peanuts, hard candy, candy canes, beef jerky, cracker jacks, protein or granola bars, theater sized box candy, chewing gum, small cans of Pringle chips, powder tubes for water bottles, and hot cocoa and apple cider mixes.
Community members can bring donations to the radio station at 910 Albany St. in Erie or drop them off at collection boxes located at Courtesy Ford or Kimberly Car City in Davenport, or Courtesy Kia and Courtesy Car City in Moline. After the donations are organized, volunteers spend many hours filling up boxes, attaching labels, and delivering the packages to the Erie Post Office for worldwide deliveries.
The radio station is open 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cash donations for shipping costs or purchasing additional items are also appreciated, either in-person or through Venmo @wqudfm, with 100% of monetary donations supporting the package drive.
Radio station staffers are also collecting service members’ addresses so they can send them one of the gift packages this year. Visit the website, email wqudvintageradio@gmail.com, or call 309-659-7608 for more information or to submit an address.
Donations can be dropped off at the radio station office in Erie during normal business hours.
Chuck Woodward, Aaron Dail, and Katie Anderson with items for the troops in 2020.
Gary Farral of Erie devotes many hours to the We Care Package Drive.
