My brother-in-law has been in the Army for many years now, and has served in areas like Somalia, Iraq, North Korea and Serbia. He forwarded this note from someone he knows who has visited Afghanistan and will be stationed there soon, and I'm posting it to get as much support as possible:

I just got back from Afghanistan where I was doing my pre-deployment visit, about three weeks ago, and I found out some things needed that I was unaware of. In the process of doing what needed to be done, we came in contact with many children and I had the chance to see the conditions in which they live.

In addition to the job we must do, I and the soldiers of the 720th Ord Co (EOD) have decided to do [our] best to help these children for at least the next six months we are there. We are going to start collecting books, school supplies, crayons, coloring books, clothes, ect. to try and help make a difference in their lives.

We would like to ask for any help that you or your friends and acquaintances could offer. The U.S. Postal service will give you free packing materials and boxes to help defray costs, plus it is free to ship from APO to APO addresses. These items do not need to be new, nor expensive, they would appreciate almost anything we could offer. I will be in Afghanistan right after Thanksgiving and these items can be
mailed directly to me starting anytime after that at:

Cpt Charles Appleby
720th Ord. Co. (EOD)
APO, AE 09355

My unit, I, and the Afghan Children would truly appreciate any help you could give in this endeavor. The majority of the children I have seen in the orphanages and around the base are between the ages of 4 and 10 years old, but please do not limit the collections to just this group, as there are plenty of babies and older kids that need help too. Please keep in mind any old school books and such, for learning purposes, would be beneficial as well. Thank you all again for taking the time to read and any support you can give us with this project. POC for this project is Cpt Charles R. Appleby at this e-mail address. Thank you again for your time and help.

V/R,
Cpt Charles "Rob" Appleby
720th Ord Co (EOD)
Commanding

PS. Please feel free to forward this message and information on to any family, friends, or organizations you think may be willing to help us with this project, all participation is welcome. If you know anyone who could get something out to the press or papers, that would be an awesome avenue to help spread the word.

The email headers are such that I don't know the sender's email, but if you want it, I could get it from my brother-in law, no problem. This isn't a hoax, this is real people trying to really help people in need.

Oh! And in case you didn't know, mailing to an APO from the US costs the same as mailing in the continental US, so it won't cost more to send overseas.