SSG Christopher A. Wootton
6 req as of 10/24

part of his post:

20 Oct 2009:
OPERATION BUNDLE UP:
   This program is designed to use donations of clothing from the United States to deliver to Afghan families of need in Zabul Province.

Any donation will be appreciated but we are most in need of: children's coats (boys' and girls'), sweaters (boys & girls, mens' & womens'), childrens' shoes, blankets, gloves, and winter caps (i.e toboggans or "beanies" based on where you come from).

npg Hello!

Thanks for mentioning this contact. Many people do not know how cold it gets in the Middle East. Especially at higher elevations.

Thanks again, door

I could not get the search anysoldier to give me his contact information. I tried several times using his whole name and request for clothing. Each time it told me no records were found. I then tried searching by country - afghanistan - and by date and came up with nothing either. Just tried again and found it! Thanks.

The easiest way to find a contact with a known name would be to use the View Contacts by pulldown and select Last Name.  Then for the case of SSG Wooton, choose the letter "W" and scroll through the list until you find the person.   

The search function is a simple character match so you have to get it exactly right - no typos, no extra spaces, etc.

 I'll be sending a ton of children's winter caps to this contact.   A local Old Navy store marked them all down to 10cents last spring and I scooped them up. 

cj/

If you knit or crochet, also check out Afghans for Afghans (www.afghansforafghans.com) and their links to patterns, as well as helpful hints to make the item most useful for an Afghan winter. They also sell patterns inspired by Afghan design. 

Hi,

Does anyone know if they just want new items?  I know they would prefer new items, but I have a stack of sweaters (men & womens) that I was about to give away because they nolonger fit.  They are in 'like new' conditions and thought I'd send them to SSG Wootton if they will accept slightly used items, but don't want to stick them with a pile of stuff if they only need new items.

Anna

I'm sure that they will welcome new or good used.  He writes that the needs in this area are desperate and that people don't have enough clothes to keep warm.  Those sweaters will help alot of people. 

I'm sending gently used items to Wootton today - a couple of small blankets, some sweaters and hats.  I had to lie across the box to squish all the fabric in while my husband taped it!

I am also sending gently used items. I think it's fine to do so as long as they are in good condition, good enough that you would use it. All of mine have been freshly washed and are very clean. I'm sending a bunch of wool sweaters we don't wear any more, a down jacket with a hood my son outgrew, a down vest I don't use, hats, etc. whatever I can find. I figure, if it's good enough for me, or my family, to wear without embarrassment, it's good enough to give to another family to wear. I'd never give anything dirty, stained, torn or worn looking. But, you'd be surprised how many do give such awful things to charities that give clothing to those in need. When I collected clothes for Katrina victims I was astonished by some of the terrible things people gave me. Surprisingly nice looking people, too. I can not imagine what they were thinking. Nobody needs clothes with stains and holes, or that smell like urine, or are musty, yet in many cases that's what I got. I ended up taking eleven pickup truck loads of it to the dump. My mother helps at our local food pantry which also gives out clothing and she's told me for years about the revolting bags of dirty donated clothes she's had to go through. Such stuff should be thrown out, never donated.