HOLIDAY STOCKINGS FOR HEROESWho can participate?Anyone can participate! Looking for a new holiday family tradition? Or perhaps a way to engage your employees? Maybe you just need a virtual volunteer activity to keep you busy at home? Either way, Holiday Stockings for Heroes is just what you’ve been looking for and is great for groups of 1 to 1,000.
Donated stockings will be shipped to service members deployed to combat zones or in support of combat operations and veteran patients in VA Hospitals across the country. The stockings will also be shared with National Guard and Reserves Units across the country.
What do I do?It’s simple! Collect items from our list of suggested items, stuff them into a holiday stocking and send to Soldiers’ Angels. We’ll take care of the rest!
If you’re coordinating a large group, consider hosting a collection drive for the items you will need. Once you have enough items collected, you and your group can come together in-person or virtually and stuff the stockings! You can also make/write a personal card or letter that can be included in the stocking.
https://soldiersangels.org/holiday-stockings-for-heroes/
Donated stockings will be shipped to service members deployed to combat zones or in support of combat operations and veteran patients in VA Hospitals across the country. The stockings will also be shared with National Guard and Reserves Units across the country.
What do I do?It’s simple! Collect items from our list of suggested items, stuff them into a holiday stocking and send to Soldiers’ Angels. We’ll take care of the rest!
If you’re coordinating a large group, consider hosting a collection drive for the items you will need. Once you have enough items collected, you and your group can come together in-person or virtually and stuff the stockings! You can also make/write a personal card or letter that can be included in the stocking.
https://soldiersangels.org/holiday-stockings-for-heroes/
Here are the items to include in your holiday stocking:Include any combination of the following items, as well as a small card or handwritten note inside the stocking to let the service members and veterans know you’re thinking of them.
Please do not include these items:
A couple of years ago, someone donated this stocking using a knit stocking cap as a closure and it was brilliant! This is our preferred method for you to close the stocking since it’s easy to remove and adds a useful extra item for the recipients.
Soldiers’ Angels stocking caps can be purchased in our Angel store, or any store-bought stocking cap will work.
Please DO NOT use staples or safety pins to close your stockings (not allowed in most VA Hospitals).
Preferred method to close stockingsPackaging and ShippingPlease ensure you carefully pack the stockings with newspaper, packing peanuts, or bubble wrap to ensure minimal damage to stockings during shipping. Please do not ship in extra-large boxes and keep box weight to less than 40 pounds.
Don’t forget: you are responsible for the cost to ship your stockings to your designated shipping location!
Marketing MaterialsTo help your stocking campaign be a smashing success, we’ve created some graphics that you can use to help promote your collection and/or packing party. Feel free to add these graphics to your internal materials and share across all of your channels.
- Slim Jims or Beef Jerky
- Packages of Holiday nuts
- Single serving drink mix packets (i.e. Crystal Light)
- Playing cards
- Puzzle book (Crosswords, Sudoku, Word Find)
- Holiday-themed writing pens or pencil
- Holiday candy (in sealed wrapping or small unopened bags)
- Candy Canes
- Peanut Brittle
- Socks
- Travel-sized games
- Card games (Uno, Phase 10)
- Stress balls (holiday-themed preferred)
- Gloves (preferably black; winter; one size fits all)
- Single serving cookie packages
- Apple cider packets (must be in Ziploc baggies in case the packets break)
- Hot chocolate (must be in Ziploc baggies in case the packets breaks)
- Small notepads
- Holiday-themed lip balm (wrapping and scent)
- Caps (warm winter)
- Other holiday-themed items
Please do not include these items:
- NO GLASS (containers, ornaments, etc)
- NO SHARP OBJECTS (safety pins, razors pocket knives)
- NO PRODUCTS CONTAINING ALCOHOL (some mouthwash, hand sanitizer, some colognes)
- NO AEROSOLS
- NO HAND SANITIZER
- NO Glitter
- NO BRANDED STOCKINGS with company/organization names, logos, etc.
- NO political materials
A couple of years ago, someone donated this stocking using a knit stocking cap as a closure and it was brilliant! This is our preferred method for you to close the stocking since it’s easy to remove and adds a useful extra item for the recipients.
Soldiers’ Angels stocking caps can be purchased in our Angel store, or any store-bought stocking cap will work.
Please DO NOT use staples or safety pins to close your stockings (not allowed in most VA Hospitals).
Preferred method to close stockingsPackaging and ShippingPlease ensure you carefully pack the stockings with newspaper, packing peanuts, or bubble wrap to ensure minimal damage to stockings during shipping. Please do not ship in extra-large boxes and keep box weight to less than 40 pounds.
Don’t forget: you are responsible for the cost to ship your stockings to your designated shipping location!
Marketing MaterialsTo help your stocking campaign be a smashing success, we’ve created some graphics that you can use to help promote your collection and/or packing party. Feel free to add these graphics to your internal materials and share across all of your channels.