AUGUST adoption: Fun and GATOR Games with the USS IWO JIMA!!

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

USS Iwo Jima August 2012 from Marcy Scott on Vimeo.

UPDATE - USS Iwo Jima Homecoming December 20, 2012 - a Cox Video Diary (Kleenex alert!)

Here's a September 2012 update to our amazing August adoption - a wonderful email I just received!!  I want to give a great big THANK YOU to everyone who made the August adoption of the junior enlisted aboard USS Iwo Jima on this long deployment such a wonderful one!!!   Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom 

Received the following email (from a female sailor) today (9/25):  

"The crew and I on the Iwo Jima want to thank you for the lovely care packages that you sent us on this deployment. 

I am a [xxx] on this ship and I have been onboard the Iwo Jima for over a year now.  This is my second deployment and it has been difficult, especially without visiting a liberty port for months on end and the many restrictions we go under for operational security purposes. 

Sometimes, the only exciting thing we have to look forward to is mail.  Most of us are always expecting mail from loved ones but they don’t always arrive on time. 

For some of us that don’t get any mail, instead are blessed with a care package from lovely, caring and appreciative persons like you.  We are just as grateful for receiving your gifts as you are for us serving our country. 

A couple of days ago, all of us in my work center were pleasantly surprised with care packages and let me tell you - we were like a bunch of happy little kids on Christmas day opening our presents! 

We truly appreciate you thinking of us and caring about us and taking the time out of your day to make these packages for us especially for those who may feel lonelier because of not hearing from their family and loved ones for so long.  It truly means a lot to us.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

[XX]" 

August Adoption:  Fun and GATOR Games!   Our adoptees are the junior enlisted sailors (E4 and below) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS IWO JIMA - part of the Navy’s “Gator Navy” - and we’re definitely going for the GOLD with this adoption!  

The Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group is halfway through an eight month deployment (more about the ship, below).  The Iwo Jima ARG is in the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation patrolling parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, supporting maritime security operations and critical response capability if needed. 

They’ve been away from home a loooong time, and along with needing PERSONAL CARE items, they are hoping for SNACKS AND TREATS from home (chocolate is a special request!), and have specifically also asked for GAMES to help beat the dog days of summer and keep their spirits up! 

There are 625 junior enlisted aboard, of which about 100 are female.  We hope to send as many boxes as we can.  Lets do our MOLLY best to give these great sailors plenty of treats PLUS fun and games to share.  THANK YOU for ROCKING THE GATOR GAMES!!!! 

We're encouraging individual boxes with a mix of snacks & treats, personal care items and games in each.  If you want to send a common box full of one category, please clearly mark COMMON BOX -SHARE.

Print these MAS Stickers (2"x4", 10/page) and add to your boxes!!

Here’s the ‘Wish List' from our contact, the ships RP1:  (Note: no pillow cases permitted by the ship for this adoption.  

She says in her email...

“My list is compiled from things that I see firsthand some sailors run out of and the ship store does not carry or runs out of.  Movies/TV series (DVDs, any kind works) are welcome.  Homemade treats are the best - cookies, chocolate and brownies.

PERSONAL CARE ITEMS ~

Shampoo and conditioner

Soap

Toothpaste and mouthwash

Hand sanitizer

Lotion

Purex 3 in 1’s (laundry soap) is good

New dark blue T shirts compatible with NWUs

New black over the calf crew socks

Shoe polish (black)

SNACKS AND TREATS ~

Homemade treats - cookies, chocolate and brownies - note:  chocolate is a big request! :)  Recipes and Baking Tips for successful shipping

Candy

Chips/popcorn

GAMES ~

Board games

Phase 10 (card game)

Scrabble

Jenga

Taboo

Playing cards

Dominoes

Jump ropes

Jacks.....”

♥ And of course - cards and letters of support from home are the most welcome of all ♥ :)

Add a Molly's Adopt a Sailor sticker to your box!  MAS labels

Measuring 844 feet long (about the length of three football fields), the USS Iwo Jima and her 1,100 sailors provide the platform that can deliver up to 1,900 Marines (currently from the 24th Expeditionary Unit) to any contingency in their region.  

This eight-month deployment is longer than the norm for a routine rotation.  The ARG’s deployment also marks the maiden voyage of the USS New York, whose bow is forged with steel from the World Trade Center.

The Iwo (LHD-7) serves both as a warship and as a medical provider of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.  Her extensive medical department includes operating rooms, a blood bank, laboratories and patient wards.  When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the Iwo provided a floating command center and hospital, while her crew assisted in search and rescue operations, plucking almost 3,400 people from rooftops and saving them from rising waters.  In 2010, she provided healthcare and humanitarian aid to eight countries in the Caribbean and South America, and in 2006, evacuated nearly 15,000 American citizens from Lebanon.

 

 

[Molly Molly Fo Folly]

HOLY COW ----------- OK I have playing cards and also some hacky sacks on the games and fun side of things,

(certainly not 625 of them ---but a ton of them ) glad they share huh ???   LOL 

bubbles ----did they really ask for bubbles ??   holy smokes that is cute 

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

Yes they really did - I thought the same thing!! - and apparently I've been missing out, because I took a trip to ToysRUs this weekend (first in about 20 years LOL) and they have racks and shelves dedicated to every kind of bubble producing gadget you can imagine - who knew? :)

[Pat L. in IL]

Okay, I will be going back to Chicago tomorrow (spoiling the grandkids.....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!). I will take inventory and let you know what i will be packing.

In addition, I will send a "movie box. 40 DVD's with popcorn and movie-style candy!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Vimeo!!!!!

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

FORTY DVDs?!?  That's amazing!  I've got a DVD/movie trivia game that'll fit right in :)  So far I've got Scrabble, dominoes, chess & checkers.  Also the dice game Left/Right/Center - I love that game, we always try to play it at family get-togethers, love that you can be in or out right up to the end and take it all :)  PS thanks for lovin' the Vimeo!  Some of the photos at the end I took at the Iwo Jima homecoming in Norfolk in 2010, talk about a PARTY, it was so cool :)  I yelled to the boys in the 'hatch' with the ropes to say Cheese, really broke them up LOL

[Pat L. in IL]

Marcy, "Operation Support Our Troops" donated 600-700 DVD's to us in January, so every group gets a bunch. Soon I may be able to see the bottom of the closet they are stored in!!!

[carols_kitchen]

I've got DVDs from an Air Force family that was in Germany.  they said no TV stations, so they all bought DVDs and she gave me a box of them.  See how many good ones there are that I can box up and mail. 

[kayakhinkle]

This sounds like fun!  I'll raid our family game night stash for card games.  I have some bubbles and can pick up more.  How do I "declare" them on the custom form and what do I say when postal worker asks, "Anything liquid, fragile or perishable?"

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

I raided my mom's cupboard last night, that's where the checkers & chess came from.  Hmm, bubbles=soap, could be 'personal hygiene'?  Depends on your conscience - and your ability to triple-bag with Ziplock bags :)

[Molly Molly Fo Folly]

say no kayakhinkle ---lol I never tell the truth on those things. Ok that sounds bad so i will explain myself ---- the post offcie doesnt need to know anything because the truth is they take our boxes and send it to a USA base , so it is just exactly like me sending a box to you. Its the military who takes it from there to our deployed. As long as we dont send dangerous things that would harm them ie: explosives.--seriously a person is not going to send liquid body wash because the post office says no ??   We just put it in a ziplock and send away ---  

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

LOL Kayak just be sure no aerosols and flammable stuff :)   Molly, this is gonna be US someday hahaha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKlzQo3Wqo

[carols_kitchen]

I'm always so "generic" on my customs forms.  So, to me, bubbles could be in the listing of personal hygiene, right?

[Lorraine]

Tell the postal worker you put small containers of bubbles in. But if you wrap them in paper and place in a ziploc bag you can also impress them that if it leaks, it won't cause a problem. Mailing liquids isn't a problem unless it's flammable (like most hand sanitizer). Proper packing is the key.