by matt durr mattdurr@mlive.com follow on twitteron november 09, 2014 at 600 pm, updated november 09, 2014 at 605 pmit all started about 12 years ago in the living room of john kinzinger with a group of about eight people. several boxes were filled that day with treats, supplies, reading materials and other goods all designated for special recipients overseas.those boxes were being sent to american troops fighting all over the world.on sunday, kinzinger conducted what is expected to be the final care packaging party hosted by the washtenaw county vietnam veterans of america chapter 310. after a dozen years and more than 3,800 packages sent, the effort will be slowing down as combat troops are withdrawn from war zones across the globe.during sunday&39s event, more than 40 people packed a room at the veterans of foreign wars post 423 in ann arbor to fill the final boxes to be sent out in time for christmas. kinzinger who is a former president of the vva said he has around 240 on his list that have helped with the parties over the years."it&39s just a wonderful group of people who just give and give and give and it&39s all for the troops," kinzinger said. "over half the people here aren&39t veterans."each box received a collection of snacks like chips, crackers, beef jerky, cookies, candy and canned food. the boxes also contain books, magazines, socks, pens, paper, notecards and other general materials soldiers can use.although the idea started in kinzinger&39s living room, it grew to a point where the group started having the packing parties every few weeks. in that time, kinzinger said he has the customs forms to prove the group has sent 3,800 care packages.he also keeps a running log of the addresses of the soldiers and when to start and stop shipping to the addresses. whenever a family would give kinzinger an address of a service member who needed a package, he added them to the list."when we first started, we were doing support the troops rallies all over the county," kinzinger said. "people started giving us addresses of their loved ones."some of the goods sent are purchased using money from the vva, but a lot of the funding comes from private donations or from people bringing goods to share during the packing parties.postage on each package runs an average of 20 per box, meaning the group has paid around 76,000 in postage alone. the group estimates around 250,000 in goods has been shipped to the troops with an estimated 95 percent of that coming from donations."whenever we have the packing parties, the public, churches, they bring in stuff. a lot of people here are from outside organizations," said vva member george perrault.after the boxes are packed and ready to go, a volunteer loads up his passenger van and transports the boxes to the post office so the process of shipping can begin. because there are so many packages, it usually takes the post office a couple days to finish getting everything ready to be sent.on sunday, there were so many boxes packed that the back of the van and pickup truck were filled.in each box packed sunday, were christmas cards gathered by destiny eadie who has been sending cards to troops for almost a decade."i started in 2005, when i was 10. i was trying to get soap and shampoo and stuff like that and i had 20 in babysitting money," eadie said. "i thought about it and i could get more cards."after buying her cards, eadie went door to door and asked random people to sign the cards to send to the troops so that the soldiers knew they weren&39t being forgotten during the christmas season.since starting the project, eadie has sent more than 55,000 cards to soldiers around the world. currently a student at eastern michigan university, eadie said she has slowed down the effort a bit, but last year she passed cards around the dorms to be sent away.although the demand for the boxes has decreased, kinzinger is going to continue packing them and sending them along as he gets requests. and while there will be no large parties followed by potluck dinners with friends, family and supporters, he knows exactly where he&39ll put together the boxes.right in his living room.matt durr covers ypsilanti for the ann arbor news. email him at mattdurr@mlive.com or follow him on twitter.
