anysoldier.com

As I wrote in the previous entry, I'm trying to get a care package sent to northern Iraq. My problems were, roughly in order of running into them:

• What regulations apply when sending food/candy to the US? Answer: In accordance with the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 you have to provide advance notice to the FDA of every single package you send to the US. Unless you've made the food yourself.

• What customs regulations apply when sending food/candy to an APO address? Answer: you have to fill out some customs form.

• What candy survives the transport? Answer: Not sure yet, but regular chocolate bars won't survive 100+ degrees.

• What regulations apply when sending things to a military base in Iraq? Answer: None chocolate-related, but anything offensive to Islam, any weapons (duh) are forbidden.

In and of themselves these problems can all be solved. Hell, I might even learn how to file a prior notice with the FDA! However, I don't have ten tries to get things right. I want my care package to get to Iraq before Christmas, and debugging the supply chain from here to Mosul isn't something I'm that keen on doing.

Enter anysoldier.com[a] and treatanysoldier.com[b]. Anysoldier.com is, in the site's own words:

Sergeant Brian Horn from LaPlata, Maryland, an Army Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade was in the Kirkuk area of Iraq when he started the idea of AnySoldier to help care for his soldiers. He agreed to distribute packages that came to him with "Attn: Any Soldier" in his address to the soldiers who were not getting mail. Brian is no longer in Iraq but Any Soldier Inc. continues with your support.

Treatanysoldier.com is:

Responding to the many, many requests we get from folks looking for pre-packaged care packages, Any Soldier Inc. is proud to announce "TreatAnySoldier.com"! There you will find several available packages designed by Sergeant Brian Horn's Mom, who was an Army MP herself, who with Brian developed packages that are sure to be appreciated.

Which solved all my problems. The Cookies Galore[c] care package was just what I was looking for. As for the other items in the care package - DVDs and a cookbook with pictures of herbs and spices - I simply purchased that from Amazon[d] and had it shipped straight to him.