FAQ

Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions Page. If you do not find the answer to your question here please feel free to contact us.

1. Can you give me the name or address of a soldier to have as a pen-pal?

2. How does Letters From Home get soldier's addresses?

3. Can I add my loved one who is in the service to your mailing list?

4. Who does Letters From Home send mail and care packages to?

5. How do I know the soldiers are getting the items I send, or are benefiting from the money I donate?

6. How do I know my items are getting to those who need them most?

7. Why can't I seal my card or note in it's envelope?

8. Why can't I send homemade cookies, etc. to the soldiers?

9. How exactly does this program work?

10. What is a "letter stuffing" party?

11. How do I get my items to Letters From Home?

12. How can I sign up for the Letters From Home Newsletter to find out when the next campaign is and what items are being collected?

13.? Why do we always use the word "soldier"??

1. Can you give me the name or address of a soldier to have as a pen-pal?
No, we cannot do this because of HIPPA privacy laws and to protect the safety of our soldiers. However, if you include your name and address or e-mail address with the items you send to the soldiers many of them who have the time will write back to you and then you can carry on correspondence on your own with them. Many, many of our soldiers do this and appreciate hearing from the same people/families.

2. How does Letters From Home get soldier's addresses?
Many of the addresses we have for soldiers have come from their family members.?

3. Can I add my loved one who is in the service to your mailing list?
YES! Please contact us at and give the address along with the soldier's name. We will make sure they are added to our next mailing campaign.

4. Who does Letters From Home send mail and care packages to?
Letters From Home sends mail and care packages to any member of any of our United States Armed Services. It does not matter if they are in the USA or overseas. The only requirement is that they are in one of the branches of service.

5. How do I know the soldiers are getting the items I send, or are benefiting from the money I donate?
One of the best ways that you can know how the soldiers are benefiting from the items you give is to receive your own letter back from a soldier thanking you for the items. That is why we ask you to put your return address with your cards and items you donate to the program.? You can see letters that others have received from soldiers here. Letters From Home is also a 501c3 organization. If you need more information, please feel free to contact us at .

6. How do I know my items are getting to those who need them most?
Once The Letters From Home Program has established a contact with a soldier, we ask them if there is anyone that they know of that is not receiving as much mail from home as others are. We then add these additional soldiers to our list. When our items are shipped there is no preference made, all soldiers receive the same amount of items. The Letters From Home Program also sends to three military hospitals where are wounded are recovering.? These hospitals currently include Landstuhl Regional Medical Hospital in Germany; Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland; and Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC.

7. Why can't I seal my card or note in it's envelope?
The reason for this is we want only positive messages of encouragement and pride for our troops. We screen all items that are sent to be sure they are of a cheerful note and fitting for our soldiers.

8. Why can't I send homemade cookies, etc. to the soldiers?
The reason for this is simply the safety of our soldiers. We have no way of knowing who made homemade items or what they could contain.

9. How exactly does this program work?
If you haven't found the answer to that question on our site, here it is! Send us your handwritten letters or cards, and items you've collected from our donation list. The items must be in by the deadline date or they will be held for the next campaign. On the day of the letter stuffing, the Letters From Home Committee gathers with many caring citizens (all are welcome to attend) and places letters and cards into pre-addressed hand-written envelopes. The envelopes are then put into boxes, each unit has one box, or two or three, depending on it's size. The boxes are then shipped. After that we just wait to hear back from the soldiers. It usually takes two weeks for the soldiers to receive their items, and then another 10-14 days to hear back from them.

10. What is a "letter stuffing" party?
A letter stuffing party is what we call it when the Letters From Home Committee gathers with caring citizens (all are welcome to attend) and places the letters and cards that have been collected into envelopes. Usually we have a room with tables covered in mail. Each person is handed a pre-addressed envelope and told to take "their soldier" and? put in a certain number of letters into it. When the envelope is stuffed it then goes into that soldier's unit's box.

11. How do I get my items to Letters From Home?
If you live in our local area you can use one of our drop off locations that are listed here. Otherwise you can mail your items to us at,

Letters From Home Program
% Chris and Jim Jovenitti, Directors
6631 Ridgway Jbg Rd.
Johnsonburg, PA 15845
You can also contact us at if you need more information.

12. How can I sign up for the Letters From Home Newsletter to find out when the next campaign is and what items are being collected?
Please contact us at and let us know you'd like to be added to our newsletter mailing list.? Please also include your address.

13.? Why do we always use the word "soldier"??? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? We use the term "soldier" to refer to anyone serving our Country, they can be in any of our Armed Forces.? We love each and everyone who serves our Country equally.?

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