ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The holidays can be a tough time for people, especially for military personnel deployed overseas and away from home.
Since 2017, staff with Volunteer Kansas have been putting together Presents in a Package for deployed military personnel, and this year, the tradition will continue.
“We are right now collecting names and addresses for deployed Kansans, because we want to make sure they get a free care package from home during the holidays,” Volunteer Kansas Executive Director Nola Brown said. “Sadly, a lot of our deployed personnel don't receive anything from home during the holiday season, so we want to do our part and send them something from Kansas to show them we care. This is our fifth year of the Presents in a Package campaign, and this year, we need all names and addresses submitted to us by Nov. 11 so we have that list put together for our packaging event, which will be Nov. 15. We're also asking for donations of items to go in these care packages, and those items can be dropped off at any Southwest National Bank location in Wichita or at KAKE-TV studios at 1500 N. West Street in Wichita. We'll also accept monetary donations to help cover the postage, which is always appreciated because it costs $23 per package to ship everything out. We're also recruiting volunteers to help with our big packaging event, which will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Farm Credit Bank building at 245 N. Waco Street in Wichita, and people can sign up to volunteer on the Volunteer Kansas Web site, and we'd prefer people sign up as soon as possible so we have a good list of everyone who will be there that day. And it's a really fun event, everyone has a good time and keeps busy, and we always make sure to have this event close to Veterans Day so we can honor local veterans.”
Brown said she hopes to see a lot of participation for this year’s campaign.
“We're looking forward to seeing a bunch of people show up to help put the packages together. Everything always comes together really well – we've always got a great list of military personnel to send packages to, we've always got a bunch of items to send to them, and we've always got a great group of volunteers to help put everything together,” Brown said. “The list of acceptable donations is available at VolunteerKansas.org, and that includes little Christmas decorations, entertainment items (books, puzzle books), and toiletries (body wash, baby wipes, toothpaste, etc.), among many other items, all of which are easily accessible at local stores and very appreciated by the recipients. If you can afford even just a couple of items, that's still a couple items more than we had before, and everything is appreciated. There are a few items that can't be shipped, and that list is also available on VolunteerKansas.org, so people can make sure they're not donating something that ultimately can't be shipped.”
Brown said she has enjoyed seeing Presents in a Package grow every year, and added she expects to see that growth continue.
“We always expect a great turnout as far as volunteers, and we always expect to have a lot of items donated for us to put in these care packages, and we always have a big list of names to send out packages to,” Brown said. “We also have a lot of great partners we work with on this campaign, and I don't foresee any difference as far as that. We truly make it a fun event for everyone from beginning to end. Being part of something like this really gives you a sense of having made a big difference for someone in our military, and we always have a lot of gratitude expressed to us for our work. We've seen this grow every year, and we hear back from more and more of the military personnel about how much they appreciated their care package, and it's just a great feeling overall.”
Brown also offered encouragement for donations to the campaign.
“I always say, think about if you had a child deployed out of the country with the military and how you would feel about them being away from home for the holidays. It's a great way for us to show support for our military personnel who are doing so much for their country. Every little bit helps,” Brown said. “Anyone who has a deployed loved one from Kansas, whom they would like to receive a care package during the holidays, should email the serviceperson’s name and mailing address to
Overall, Brown said, she hopes to have another successful Presents in a Package campaign.
“If you have that Friday free, and if you like doing something you will have an immediate sense of accomplishment about, this is a great opportunity for you,” Brown said. “You meet a lot of new people, you do some great work for our military personnel overseas, and you'll come away knowing you did something worthwhile. It's a great event for groups and families and individuals to be part of, and we see people from all different walks of life, so we have something for everyone. Again, the three main things are to make sure people email the names and addresses of anyone they know who's deployed overseas to
