Angel Blog

Sending 7,000 Stockings Overseas with Help from Giving Tuesday Donations

Our theme for Giving Tuesday this year was “Stories of Giving and Receiving.” We had lots of volunteers coming in and out to help stuff stockings and share their giving stories as we tried raising money to ship all 7,000 stockings.

This year we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. We received more requests for holiday stockings from deployed service members and Chaplains than we anticipated. We needed to raise funds quickly to ship 7,000 stockings overseas by December 6th so they get to service members in time for the holidays!

  • 2,000 individual stockings are being shipped to service members currently registered to receive support through Soldiers’ Angels, including 1,000 Special Operations Forces members.

  • 5,000 stockings are being shipped to various deployed Chaplains for them to distribute to their units.

Our warehouse is CRAZY with activity as we prepare for this massive shipping endeavor! In case you missed it, we actually did a tour of the warehouse live on Facebook to you just how many stocking we have to send. https://www.facebook.com/SoldiersAngelsOfficial/videos/452059822387474/

Why stockings are so important

For many of our deployed service members, the stockings may be the only reminder they get of the holiday season. They may not receive mail or packages from their families. We also frequently hear that the cost of shipping packages is too expensive for families to send. This is why shipping these stockings is so important. 

“We get a lot of emails from people who didn’t get anything from home and the stocking coming in the mail unexpectedly is a really big treat for them.” – Amy Palmer, CEO Soldiers’ Angels

Giving Tuesday efforts

Did you know that it costs $20 per stocking to ship? What better way to raise money than on Giving Tuesday when there’s an opportunity to have your funds matched by Facebook? 

Our theme for Giving Tuesday this year was “Stories of Giving and Receiving.” We had lots of volunteers coming in and out to help stuff stockings and share their giving stories as we tried raising money to ship all 7,000 stockings. 

We’ve raised over $19,000 so far – exceeding our original goal! THANK YOU to those who donated – from $10 to $1,000 – every dollar counts and is greatly appreciated. We’re still raising funds as we have a lot more to go to be able to send all of those stockings. Please show your support for our deployed service members and veterans by helping us raise money. The Giving Tuesday campaign will remain open this week. Donate here.

I Give Because

In preparation for the day, we asked our Angels, donors, and supporters to complete the sentence: I Give Because… Here are some of the photos we were sent, and some we took at the office.