0 Care Packages

It's not unusual to see and hear support for the troops in Huntsville. The United States Department of Defense heavily impacts this area, both economically and socially. There are yellow ribbon stickers on cars, flags flying in yards and shirts that say "Support Our Troops" all around town. What is unusual is to talk to someone who is making a sacrifice to show this support. Kathy Lutz is one of these rare people.

Kathy has been sending care packages to troops who are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world for the last seven years. September 11th impacted everyone in this country in some way or another. For Kathy, the tragedy inspired her to give her time and resources to those making sacrifices to fight in our nation's armed forces. She does not receive funding or help except for the occasional donation. She estimates she sends, on average, 200-300 a year. If you add it up over the years, that's over 2000 care packages!

Kathy sends everything from Gatorade and sunscreen to XBOX and PlayStation 3 games. She says some service men and women ask for movies and video games because they like the escape from their current surroundings. Some want junk food for the reminder of home. She has even helped get satellite phones to a few troops so that they could talk to their families back home. For every ten packages she sends out, she hears back from one recipient. Occasionally she will get to meet some of the troops when they return home. The highlight of her efforts was being invited to a welcome home party for in Chicago. To hear her describe it as the trip of a lifetime shows how much "her boys" mean to her.

If you would like to join Kathy in giving back to those who sacrifice their time, families, and put their lives in danger, you can go to one of the following websites to find the names and addresses of troops who are deployed:

http://www.operationmilitarysupport.com/

http://www.emailourmilitary.com/

http://www.soldiersangels.org/

http://troopssupport.com/

With Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, if you can't send a care package, simply a thanking someone who is serving or has served our country lets them know they are not appreciated.