Volunteers pack and send festive holiday packages to deployed personnel

The North Bay Military Family Resource Centre has prepared festive holiday packages to send out to deployed members overseas this season. 

The packages are prepared each year as a way of supporting serving members and boost morale over the Christmas period. 

The care packages have been very well received in previous years. 

“One member came to see me before going on a deployment and was [previously] a recipient of our care packages. He said receiving the care packages made his deployment so much nicer, and he gave me a great big hug and said thank you! He’s on deployment again and is receiving packages again,” explained Linda McCaulay, deployment support coordinator at the North Bay MFRC.  

The packages include Canadian classics like ketchup chips and maple cookies, which deployed members often share with soldiers from other nations who have never tried them before.

   “I had one member who was deployed say he traded his ketchup chips for a bag of coffee from another military member from another country,” added McCaulay.

The North Bay MFRC decorate the packages with Christmas pictures. Military members have also expressed a real fondness of receiving cards and letters from the children from schools. 

One recipient of the care package last year wrote, “Thank you so much, North Bay MFRC Staff for the care package. I attached my mini flashlight to my bike to ride at night in the camp.”

“Thank you, North Bay MFRC, for the wonderful Christmas package, especially the handwritten cards from the Wing Commander, Mayor of North Bay, North Bay Military Family Resource Centre, and the school children,” added another.

Canada Post is also offering free regular parcel services for family and friends of deployed CAF members from 16th October 2019 to 10th January 2020. 

Parcels can be delivered free of charge from any Canada Post location to designated CAF bases, which will be forwarded through the CAF postal system to members overseas.

For more information on sending mail or parcels to Canadian Armed Forces members overseas, please visit the DND website here.