MILITARY CONNECTIONS WAS STARTED AS WAY TO ENSURE THAT OUR TROOPS HAVE THE SUPPLIES AND SUPPORT THEY NEED WHILE DEPLOYED. EVERY BOX THAT GOES OVER TO THE TROOPS IS APPRECIATED. EVERY PENNY COUNTS.THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Leftover Halloween Candy Donation Guidelines

• We Love to Ship Leftover Halloween Candy to the Troops!
• We accept all types of candy including chocolate
• We are unable to accept expired chips. Chips must have an expiration date that is November 30th or later.
• No Huggies, Juice Boxes or Capri Suns—liquids are not able to ship via customs
• All Leftover Halloween Candy must be donated by November 16th.
• Small Donations of Leftover Candy can be dropped off at Military Connections or our satellite locations:

• Military Connections 313 Tionesta Drive New Kensington, PA 15068
• Tomlinson Insurance Agency 506 Allegheny River Blvd, Oakmont 15139
• Oakmont Realty 630 Allegheny River Blvd, Oakmont 15139
• Zentgraf Family 521 Pennsylvania Avenue, Oakmont 15139

Large Donations of Candy (more than 20 pounds):
• Please donate the candy in computer paper boxes with lids or something similar in size. We use this size box for shipment.
• Large Donations of Candy must be dropped off at our Plum Borough Location—313 Tionesta Drive New Kensington PA 15068
• Please email [email protected] to receive donation directions once you have your candy collected. Donations should be left by the Garage Door.
• If you would like a tax receipt please include a mailing address with donation

Military Connections Christmas Eve Raffle

Win $500 to Make Your Christmas Bright!

As the clock strikes 7pm on Christmas Eve in the United States the Troops will be heading to work on Christmas Day overseas

Tickets: $2.00

Winner Based off of 3 Digit 7PM PA Lottery Number on December 24th

Proceeds Benefit Military Connections Care Package Program

Purchase tickets via the “Donate” Tab on the side of our website or drop a check in the mail to Military Connections~ 313 Tionesta Drive ~ New Kensington, PA 15068

2024 Christmas Stocking Campaign

Christmas is just around the corner! We are kicking off our Christmas Stocking Campaign and need your support to Ship Christmas Stockings to the troops overseas. Being away from home for the holidays is very difficult for Service Members and we hope that the stockings will be a great morale booster.

If you would like to sponsor a Christmas Stocking Donate $10.00 to Military Connections Corporation. Your ten dollars will cover the cost and contents of the stockings. You can also include a note or picture and we will put it in the stocking. In order to make sure that the stockings reach the troops by Christmas, we ship on November 25th. Monetary Donations to cover postage are accepted through December 5th.

It was a huge success in 2022 and brightened the holidays for our Deployed Troops. We use a specific Christmas Stocking for Shipment. If you would like to stuff your own Stockings please contact us for guidelines & details at [email protected] All donations are tax-deductible.

2024 Christmas Stocking Guidelines

2024 Christmas Needed Supply List

What a Day! Thank YOU to everyone that joined us to Support 2019 Sewing Day! Roughly 105 men and women stopped by the church to help with the day! Special Thanks to Rusty and Martha for organizing. Congrats to Nancy Zimmerman who won the 2019 Quilt. It was gorgeous and many sewers were sad to not win! Special Thank You to Murrysville Alliance Church for donating the space. Their Veterans Organization was on-site to help with all of the heavy lifting!By the Numbers…
5200 Stockings Created
1100 Stockings Donated by a Member of the Guild
428 Stockings Donated by Fawn Sewing Group
$1354 donated towards shipping
15+ cases of supplies donated for stuffingStay tuned for Stocking Stuffing Updates! Be sure to Follow us on Facebook: Military Connections, PGH

KDKA NewsRadio 1020AM Names Summer Tissue Hometown Hero

On March 7th, 2013 Summer Tissue received a KDKA NewsRadio 1020 Hometown Heroes Award. Surrounded by a cheering section of family and friends Summer accepted the award and shared her story with the attendees, many of whom were Wounded Warriors. Summer Tissue started Military Connections ten years ago because her brothers€™s unit was stationed in Iraq and was in desperate need of supplies. Military Connections ships about 600 boxes a month to the troops in Afghanistan and surrounding regions. To learn more about Military Connections and how you can support our troops overseas visit www.militaryconnections.org.

Excerpt from Hometown Hero Acceptance Speech:

“Growing up my brother and I would fight and my mom would tell us that we shouldn’t fight because one day we would not be together and should love each other while we have the chance. Of course we would always roll our eyes and shake our heads, but 21 years later I realized what she meant. The first time I drove my brother to the airport I sat and cried in the parking lot for an hour. When you put a loved one a plane headed for Iraq it’s hard to say goodbye. I was not sure how I was going to make it through his first deployment, but lucky for me there wasn’t too much down time before he called with what turned out to be my ten year mission.

I didn’t start shipping care packages because I wanted to run a non-profit, or make a difference, or change the way troops lived, I did what any other sister would do. I tried to make my brother and the Marines of the 2/4 know that there were people back home supporting them. I didn’t want them to go without things such as toilet paper or Tylenol.

It’s been ten years since I shipped my first care package, but I always tell people that once you ship one box, it’s hard not to ship another. I have shipped over 1 million care packages to the troops overseas. My basement is filled with supplies, my truck is never filled with fuel, my door is always blocked with boxes, my phone never stops ringing, but when I receive a letter from one of my soldiers or Marines it reminds why I do this. These are my boys. I have watched them grow, marry, have children, and change the world. If one simple box filled with candy and everyone’s favorite beef jerky can make a difference to them then at the end of the day nothing else matters.” – Summer Tissue

Guidelines for Holiday Cards/ Troop Support Letters

Cards/ Letters can be Generic or if you are including a Note you can use “Dear Soldier” or “Dear Marine”

Cards/Letters should not exceed 8” x 11” in size
Cards/Letters cannot contain any political or anti-Troop sentiments
We accept unused greeting cards year round
You can include a return address if you want

Deadlines for Holidays/ Letters

In Order to ship the Cards in time for the Holidays please deliver cards/ letters by the dates listed below.

Valentine’s Day—February 1st
Easter—3 Weeks Prior to Holiday (Date Changes each Year)
Fourth of July—June 22nd
Veteran’s Day—November 1st
Halloween— October 19th
Thanksgiving—November 9th
Christmas—December 5th
New Year’s Day—December 5th

Frequent Flier Miles
Do you have frequent flier miles that you aren’t going to use or are about to expire? Fisher House, which serves our wounded military and their families, needs frequent flier miles. Your donation will help wounded soldiers and marines in Afghanistan to fly home after their treatment or will help their families fly to visit them. If you want to donate go to www.fisherhouse.org and click on “hero miles.”

TROOP THANK YOU NOTES

Dear Military Connections,
Thank you so much for the care packages that have been sent to myself and everyone else here in Iraq! These care packages have helped boost the morale of all of the soldiers here and we truly appreciate all of the hard work and dedication every volunteer has contributed to the cause. We all appreciate the support from back home and the care packages have been wonderful! Thank you!!!
SGT Breanna M.
U.S. Army

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This is Wendy from USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) a friend of Patty Gyke. Thank you so much for the care packages you have been sending to me. I am so happy to have Military Connections Corporation supporting me while I’m out here deployed. I am not picky I appreciate everything you put into the care packages. I share with my coworkers highly appreciated by them. I understand all the tough conflicts due to COVID-19 which has taken over the year of 2020. Once again, thank you so much.
Kindly Regards,
Wendy
USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60)

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I would like to personally thank you and your organization for sending the thoughtful care packages on my deployment. I have had the opportunity to share the wonderful treats with my team as well as putting several morale functions using the items provided. As a leader in the US Military, morale has become a focal point for the troops and having the opportunity to provide these functions not only makes my job easier by boosting morale, but allows my team members to cut loose and remember a little taste of home. From simple things such as microwave popcorn to cookies, the smiles that you have provided from across the ocean is appreciated more than you know. On Easter 2020, I got together with another supervisor and with the plastic Easter eggs and candy provided, we filled over 500 Easter eggs and hid them around our building. The smiles on their faces were priceless. Attached is several photos taken from that morning. We appreciate the time, dedication and sacrifice your team has committed to making our deployment feel that much closer to home.

Sincerely,

Mike B.

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Good Afternoon Military Connections:

You are very brave to keep taking care of us when I know times are tough for you stateside. You are only one of two people who have sent us treats since the pandemic started in the US. Extra special thank-you to the Easter Bunny! Stay safe.

Kind Regards,

Darryl L.

405 EFSF

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I Just want to send a BIG THANK YOU! My platoon’s morale was very high today after receiving your goodies from you guys.

Thanks Again

Nicholas P.

135th chemical Company

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Military Connections,

We have received your very generous care packages! There was so many treats and hygiene products to go around it was a deep sigh of relief to some of us lacking some supplies. One of the highlights was the colorings and drawings tucked at the bottom. The Easter egg care packages were a great touch and a lot of these packages were grabbed up quickly. There are already people using the fake grass and colored eggs for decoration. Thank you once again for your continued support to us, even in these trying times! We all hope you are staying safe and healthy as well.

-V/R

Michael C.

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Hello,
I just got 3 boxes of Easter bags. Thank you so much! We will use this for
our Easter celebration next week.
Respectfully,
Taury V.
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My husband recently received a care package of delicious snacks from Military Connections. As you can tell, he is extremely happy opening the box and seeing food that is hard to come by there. He received this package after being in the field for two weeks, so it was a great welcome back gift! We both appreciate the time and support your organization takes to send packages to soldiers away from their families. Even if you can’t see all the expressions of the soldiers opening their package, I know all are appreciative of receiving something to remind them of back home. I can tell so much thought and effort goes into each package.

Thank you so much.
Kaylyn C.

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Just wanted to send a huge thank you for you and Military Connections. I received these pics today from him, they were ecstatic! They truly enjoyed the box full of delicious treats and had a huge smile on – which put a smile on my face as well.

Thank you for everything that Military Connections does to help soldiers feel a little more at home.

Kaylyn C.

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Please accept this Flag as a token of my appreciation on behalf of my squadron, VP-46. Also included is a certificate signed by the aircrew who took this Flag on their mission against ISIS and the signatures of my Executive Officer and Commanding Officer. Your Support for Deployed Services truly impacts our morale and welfare. To you and your team, Thank You & Happy Holidays.

Peter C.
VP 46

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Military Connections–
Thank You so much for Thinking of the Wounded, ill, and injured service members here in Germany during this holiday season. We have decorated a tree with the stockings for the service member to take with them for their journey.
Tam. F. (Center Manager)

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My name is Courtney. I am currently deployed to Qatar and I am in charge of donations for the medical group here. Our medical unit recently received care packages from you and I just wanted to send an email to thank you for the support and generous donations! The medical staff and patients greatly appreciate it! It is a reminder from home that keeps us all motivated (especially during the holidays). We hope to hear from you again soon!

COURTNEY K., SSgt, USAFR
379 EMDSS

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I wanted to take a brief moment to thank everyone at Military Connections in Pittsburgh for the amazing morale package! The festive St. Patrick’s Day stockings arrived just in time to help us celebrate in true spirit.

It has been said before that scent and taste have the most significant link to one’s memory, something as simple as a pack of M&M’s (something not easily obtained here) can truly change ones day! There was plenty for all of my team members to enjoy as we truly appreciate the kindness and generosity of everyone that helped to put this package together!
Best regards,
Christofer B.
USAF
Daylight Flight Chief

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Good morning from Kuwait. I just wanted to say that you so much for the packages that your team has been sending me here in Kuwait. I divide the packages up and give them to the Soldiers and i cannot tell how much they really appreciate all of the goodies that you send. I just wanted to take the time to say thank you and know that your support is appreciated. I hope that you have a great day.

Very Respectfully,
CPT Alexandra L.

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I want to thank you for all the support you have provided us. All the care
packages were accounted for within minutes of opening. Thank you for
supporting our mission and boosting morale. Attached is a photo of all the
people you helped. Your assistance helped make our mission a success!

Eric B.
USAF

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Military Connections,

I want to send continued thanks to you and your team. We love the care packages and I cannot believe how much work you put into it. They are truly appreciated, and we share them with our whole unit and building.

The Easter eggs just arrived and we love them! Thank you again for everything you do. I hope people tell you how much we appreciate it. It really means a lot and makes a difference over here.

Sincerely,
Hillary K.
BAF

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I would like to thank all the individuals who helped put together the stockings and snacks to TF2010 personnel in Qatar. These types of packages truly make us feel like what we do has a purpose. Thank you.

Tina J.

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Merry Christmas to the fine folks at Military Connections. I am one of the lucky recipients of one of your holiday goodie stockings. It’s great to enjoy some holiday treats and snacks from y’all, and to know that you’re thinking of us.

Many thanks! Blessings and holiday cheer from my task force to yours!

Very respectfully,

J. Andrew R.
CPT, JA
Task Force 2010

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Wow! We are overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you so much for the stockings we are having a great time distributing them. They are really helping to brighten the holidays for some men and women who have been working very hard over here. It is hard to imagine it is the holidays when you are in the desert and it is still in the 90’s, so these little touches really help remind the service members that it is Christmas. It also shows them that they aren’t forgotten which is especially important this time of year.

Thanks for your support! We really do appreciate it.

Merry Christmas,
Debbie L.
379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron

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Thank you so much for everything that you and Military Connections do. Our Squadron has received the care packages that you have been sending and can’t thank you enough. Once we received the initial group of packages I thought that would be all and have been pleasantly surprised that the packages have continued to come. I assure you that everything you have sent has been put to good use and has helped the Airmen and Marines of this Squadron. Please continue doing what you are doing and extend my thanks out to the many people and organizations that have helped in your efforts!

– Travis D.

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IN JULY OF 2013 WE CELEBRATED OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY AS AN ORGANIZATION! I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE THAT HAS MADE THAT POSSIBLE. OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS WE HAVE MAILED OVER 2 MILLION BOXES TO DEPLOYED MEN AND WOMEN AND WE AREN’T CLOSE TO BEING DONE!

THE TROOPS REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT WE DO FOR THEM. I HAVE RECEIVED EMAILS AND THANK YOU NOTES FROM THE TROOPS EXPRESSING HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO THEM TO KNOW THAT WE SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE NOTES WE RECEIVED:

Thanks so much for the boxes of Girl Scout cookies and other food items! It was much appreciated. I can’t tell you how quickly I was jumped when I was putting the food out for everyone to take their favorites. It was actually quite entertaining. There is a lack of the “finer” foods at this new location and every little bit of home is appreciated.

Thanks again for the food packages. I know everyone here is very appreciative of your support.

I hope all is well with you.

–Jessica R.

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Hi Military Connections!

I got the stockings tonight, and WOW! I couldn’t believe how many were in there, so I passed them out on each of the desks in my section and the next several adjacent sections last night. I did this while they were out, so they’d have a nice surprise waiting for them when they got in this morning. Everyone was shocked and thoroughly enjoyed them. I took one myself, as well, and it’s here in my room with me. Please send my thanks and thanks from everyone here to all the people involved in making and sending them. They were a nice lift to everyone’s spirit here.
–Steve R.
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Summer, thank you very much for the cute stockings! They were very much appreciated and made us all feel a part of the holiday celebrations that we would usually have at home. The stockings are hanging in our little mud hut rooms! Thank you very much for the support you’ve given all of us while in country. It’s nice to know people haven’t forgotten about us 🙂 I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch more – I’m in a remote location to say the least and don’t have very good internet access. All you do for us is a treat and we are thankful for your support!
–Maj Amanda C.

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Hi Summer,

We just received your gifts today. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you (Santa), and all your elves, for your tremendous support. The gifts you provided are greatly appreciated. May your holidays be filled with joy, happiness and prosperity through the New Year; and may our Father in Heaven continue guiding your way!

–Lawrence E. DAC

Chaplain Services

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Dear Military Connections

We have received a box with full of candy and snack on 19 March.
As always, our soldiers are very grateful and motivated by your love and support, because this not just a piece of candy or a chocolate.
I can guarantee for that.

Thank you and God Bless the MC troops,

—
Very Respectfully,

SPC Soe, Pyai
US Army Chaplain Assistant
HHB 1-82 FA
Camp Buehring, Kuwait

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Hello Summer and Military Connections!!!

I want to thank you so very much for everything you have sent me through out my deployment, it not only made my day, but also the others that i work with that never got anything. I especially enjoyed all of the easter candy that you sent me. I got to hand a lot of that out to everyone to uplift their spirits would you say. Anything and everything that yo sent me from toothpaste and toothbrushes, to all the soup and candy really helped me and the others. I want to extend my hand and thank you from the bottom of my heart not only from me, but from everyone else i work with. It means a lot when you recieve things from others. It feels good to know that their are others who were thinking about you and what you are doing. Honestly, I could’t thank you enough. So, thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

From,

Tony Gyke and the rest of the engineering crew of USS Harpers Ferry LSD 49

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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As the 1SG for the 703 EOD the support we have received through Military Connections has been invaluable. This is the first deployment for half of my Company and the support and love we have felt has made a lasting impression on all of my Soldiers and has been truly been over whelming. As for many of my NCO who have been with me through other deployments the generosity we have received has set a precedence we have not experienced before. I can not say enough about how much the gifts you have donated mean to those of us downrange.

Thank you,

1SG John Treida

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On September 11th volunteers from Military Connections unloaded a huge box truck filled with supplies and care packages from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania. This is a note from one of the soldiers that received a box from the truck.

I’d like to thank all of you for the tremendous amount of support. We have received all the boxes, 14 I believe, and passed them out to the soldiers. They all extend their thanks and wish all a happy holiday season. It’s a great feeling knowing that people back home, even those who we don’t know, care and support us. The soldiers definitely appreciate the time and effort that you all have donated to make our lives a little better. It raises the morale of us all, especially the young soldiers who have never been away from home. We have been working hard here for the past 14 months and are nearing the end of our tour. Since we got here, we have made huge gains in securing the area and rebuilding the local infrastructure. We are down to almost zero attacks and the local population is starting to feel safe outside their homes. They have started to work with us to rid the area of insurgents which has also started to produce more jobs. Well again I’d like to thank everyone for their support and hard work, it definitely makes a difference. -Joe Parsons

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TO ALL THAT PACKED THE BOXES

I want to take this moment out of my day and send you this short e-mail and THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart for all that you have sent to the soldiers of my unit. We received all 7 Large boxes this past weekend, and i have been passing out the stockings everyday to my soldiers. It will take about 1 week, since my soldiers work all over this base and work all different shift. I know that it takes a lot of time and money to put theses stockings together, and me and the Company Commander will be sending you a little something to cover that. I am from your area, and have several soldiers in my unit that are from the same area. The unit is from the Wilkes-Barre area, and we will be back in states around July-August time frame. Thank you again for all your support, and me and the rest of the soldiers of the HHC 320th MP BN wish your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-Frank Lewis