Care Packages

I'm sure that my mom's care packages were partially responsible for my marriage. When I was in college, my friends used to follow me to the mail room to be first in line to share the cartons of cookies, cakes and brownies that arrived regularly from home. But no one else ever made mother's care package list until I began dating my future husband. After Mom met him, Jeff began to receive his own sweet packages and romance blossomed from there. He wasn't about to quit dating me and lose that sweet deal.

The staff at the Aberdeen Post Office flexed a little extra muscle in December, above and beyond its regular holiday rush. Over the course of several days, a team of five employees processed shipments totaling in excess of 1,000 pounds – all postmarked to various military installations overseas. These packages contained an assortment of comfort items that had been collected and assembled by volunteers of an organization known as "Some SAY Support. We SEND Support," or S5. Members of S5 recently visited the Aberdeen post office to personally thank the postmaster and her staff, whose stellar customer service made these shipments possible.

Got mail? The old-fashioned, tangible kind? We do - lots of it. Every day, all sorts of packages and documents, letters and press kits flow into The Baltimore Sun offices, and that got us wondering: Just how much does it cost to send this stuff? Shipping rates can vary widely, depending upon what's being sent where, through whom and when the shipper wants it to arrive. And with many of us mailing off care packages to college students these days, and the holidays just around the corner, we wanted to know who offered the best deals.

Armed with a small spade, 8-year-old Bradley Mills put all of his effort into digging up weeds outside the Children's Home in Catonsville. "Is this a weed, Mom?" he asked his mother, Michelle, as he prepared to drive the spade into the dirt on the Bloomsbury Avenue campus on Sept. 8. "Yes," she said. Down went the spade. Within a few minutes, out came the weed. On to the next one. For the third year in row, Mills and his mother weeded and planted new flowers and shrubs at the Catonsville residential care center as part of Christian Temple Christian Church's annual Respond to the Call - a day of community service dedicated to the victims of the Sept.

BETHESDA - A mother arrives at the Red Cross office at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on a mission for her son, a 23-year-old soldier and double amputee. He needs a back scratcher. With her bright eyes and wide smile, volunteer Janice Chance gives her that and more - a reassuring rub on the arm and an offer to do anything else she can for the soldier, who is visiting the hospital for tests. In a sense, Chance is here for her own son, too. Marine Capt. Jesse Melton III, the oldest of Chance's three children, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008.

The staff at the Aberdeen Post Office flexed a little extra muscle in December, above and beyond its regular holiday rush. Over the course of several days, a team of five employees processed shipments totaling in excess of 1,000 pounds – all postmarked to various military installations overseas. These packages contained an assortment of comfort items that had been collected and assembled by volunteers of an organization known as "Some SAY Support. We SEND Support," or S5. Members of S5 recently visited the Aberdeen post office to personally thank the postmaster and her staff, whose stellar customer service made these shipments possible.

Harford residents are mobilizing local efforts to support the U.S. troops serving in the Persian Gulf.From donating blood to writing letters and preparing care packages for soldiers, residents are showing that the home front is behind the U.S. troops leading the attack against Iraqi forces."

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, North Point Lodge 4, thanks the crew of Baltimore County Firehouse 5 and their community for their continuous support in collecting donations for our Marine Mail Project. Over the last four years, the Halethorpe community has enabled the IOOF to send out approximately 3,000 care boxes to frontline soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Firehouse 5 has single-handedly allowed us to mail our soldiers approximate 200 care boxes every quarter.

The corporation president beamed as she addressed the shareholders' meeting. Sales were strong. Spirits were high.But this corporation president is 11-year-old Kristin Cullison, the shareholders are children of servicemen and women at Fort Meade and the corporation is selling T-shirts at $10 each to raise money to send care packages to servicemen and servicewomen in Haiti.In one week, the students at Pershing Hills Elementary School have sold 450 shirts. They hope to sell 390 more in front of the post commissary and PX this weekend.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh will be honored tomorrow for his support of the U.S. Army. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno , the Chief of Staff of the Army, will present Harbaugh with one of five Outstanding Civilian Service Awards during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va.  The program honors those who have passionately supported the U.S. Army. The citation that will be presented to Harbaugh by Gen. Odierno, the Chief of Staff of the Army, will read:  “For outstanding service to the United States Army, Soldiers, families, veterans and military communities.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh will be honored tomorrow for his support of the U.S. Army. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno , the Chief of Staff of the Army, will present Harbaugh with one of five Outstanding Civilian Service Awards during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va.  The program honors those who have passionately supported the U.S. Army. The citation that will be presented to Harbaugh by Gen. Odierno, the Chief of Staff of the Army, will read:  “For outstanding service to the United States Army, Soldiers, families, veterans and military communities.

BETHESDA - A mother arrives at the Red Cross office at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on a mission for her son, a 23-year-old soldier and double amputee. He needs a back scratcher. With her bright eyes and wide smile, volunteer Janice Chance gives her that and more - a reassuring rub on the arm and an offer to do anything else she can for the soldier, who is visiting the hospital for tests. In a sense, Chance is here for her own son, too. Marine Capt. Jesse Melton III, the oldest of Chance's three children, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008.

Well, that Brandon Jacobs to the Ravens' speculation didn't have much of a chance to heat up. A day after Ravens coach John Harbaugh said that the former New York Giants running back is "definitely" on the team's list, Jacobs signed a deal with the San Francisco 49ers, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. As I said earlier today, Jacobs wasn't a great fit for the Ravens, who are looking to give second-year running backs Anthony Allen and Damien Berry a bigger role after the retirement of Ricky Williams.

Maryland Golf & Country Clubs will be transformed March 31 into a "Night with the Stars" for the 8th Annual After dArc Gala to benefit The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region. More than 400 guests will be treated to star treatment, surprises, spectacular auction packages and live entertainment provided by the Klassix. Proceeds from the event benefit individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in Harford, Cecil and Kent counties. During March, declared Disabilities Awareness Month, The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region joins chapters throughout the country to promote awareness.

Annual Sing for King concert features local soloists The city of Laurel and the Laurel Clergy Association will present the fifth annual Sing for King celebration on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 15000 First Baptist Lane (off Cherry Lane just west of Van Dusen Road). The free celebration marks the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of the King holiday. The celebration will feature the Sing for King Choir performing works by Mack Statham, a Laurel composer and organist at First United Methodist Church.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, North Point Lodge 4, thanks the crew of Baltimore County Firehouse 5 and their community for their continuous support in collecting donations for our Marine Mail Project. Over the last four years, the Halethorpe community has enabled the IOOF to send out approximately 3,000 care boxes to frontline soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Firehouse 5 has single-handedly allowed us to mail our soldiers approximate 200 care boxes every quarter.

Winston Cup driver Jimmie Johnson took off his sunglasses and waded through the mass of hustling people inside the long, dark, warehouse-like building at Fort Meade. About halfway along a makeshift assembly line, he found an opening between Air Force Tech. Sgts. Stacia Williams and Steve Rosenfield. They put a carton containing packages of moist wipes in front of him, and when a plastic bag was passed to him, he dropped a package into it. Suddenly, he was one of about 80 United Service Organization volunteers working at a frantic pace Thursday, assembling 10,000 care packages for other USO organizations around the country and troops leaving from Baltimore-Washington International Airport that very afternoon.

Well, that Brandon Jacobs to the Ravens' speculation didn't have much of a chance to heat up. A day after Ravens coach John Harbaugh said that the former New York Giants running back is "definitely" on the team's list, Jacobs signed a deal with the San Francisco 49ers, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. As I said earlier today, Jacobs wasn't a great fit for the Ravens, who are looking to give second-year running backs Anthony Allen and Damien Berry a bigger role after the retirement of Ricky Williams.

Got mail? The old-fashioned, tangible kind? We do - lots of it. Every day, all sorts of packages and documents, letters and press kits flow into The Baltimore Sun offices, and that got us wondering: Just how much does it cost to send this stuff? Shipping rates can vary widely, depending upon what's being sent where, through whom and when the shipper wants it to arrive. And with many of us mailing off care packages to college students these days, and the holidays just around the corner, we wanted to know who offered the best deals.

William L. Jews is entitled to only half of his $18 million severance package from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Maryland's top insurance regulator said yesterday in a ruling that accuses the former chief executive of abandoning the insurer's nonprofit mission. In a 65-page order, state Insurance Commissioner Ralph S. Tyler wrote that CareFirst's board had violated a 2003 state law requiring executive pay for the nonprofit to meet a "fair and reasonable" standard. The decision marks the first test of the law, which was passed by legislators furious with Jews for trying to convert CareFirst to a for-profit entity and sell it to a California company.