There’s an easier way to spread holiday cheer to troops.
People can buy gift certificates online through the Dallas-based Army & Air Force Exchange Service, which operates stores at bases worldwide, including more than 50 in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stores carry everything from energy drinks and razors to CDs, laptops, DVDs and high-definition flat panel LCD televisions.
“One of the most difficult parts of being a soldier or airman is being away from family during the times most special to Americans,” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Bryan Eaton, who has spent some holidays overseas during his 29-year military career. “When you receive gifts, it makes you feel that connection to home.”
The cards, which can include a personal message from the sender, can be used at all base stores and fast food restaurants. They are distributed to soldiers by the American Red Cross and other charity groups overseas.
AAFES started the “Gifts from the Homefront” program in the wake of the Defense Department’s ban on delivering letters and packages not addressed to a specific soldier, a post-Sept. 11 security measure. Before that, churches and other groups sent care packages to “any service member,” especially during the first Gulf War.
Some 92,240 gift cards totaling nearly $2 million have been sent since the program started in 2003.
Dallas is Love, a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 by two teenage siblings who wanted to show their appreciation to troops, so far has sent cards totaling about $16,000.
After receiving donations from family, friends and local businesses, they wanted to help soldiers they did not know but were limited by the mailing restrictions. They also talked to soldiers who said care packages were appreciated but not always useful, said Dallas is Love co-founder Tania Foster.
“With gift cards, they could purchase anything they like or need,” said Foster, 19, now a college freshman. “They’re very, very appreciative. That’s what we get out of this the most.”
People who want to send a holiday gift also can buy prepaid calling cards, which are delivered to troops based on need if they are not sent to specific soldiers, Eaton said.
Calling home can be expensive but is easier than in the 1970s, when soldiers were limited to 3-minute calls using a ham radio system and had to say “over” after every phrase, Eaton said. Talking to loved ones, especially over the holidays, is important not only to soldiers but also to their relatives at home, he said.
“I can’t tell you what those (phone cards) can mean at the right time in somebody’s life,” said Eaton, the enlisted adviser to the commanding general of AAFES. “Every time someone does something like this, it’s appreciated. Soldiers and airmen feel that America is behind them, no matter what’s going on politically.”
