Bring care package donations to Shrove Tuesday pancake supper
Zion United Methodist Church in Hampshire invites the community to a pancake supper to support its project of creating military care packages.
They are asking for donated items from the list provided on www.zumchampshire.com or cash to help fill and mail packages.
The "Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper," featuring pancakes, sausages and drinks, will be 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the church, 157 W. Jefferson Ave. in Hampshire.
For information, visit zumchampshire.com or www.facebook.com/ZionUnitedMethodistChurchOfHampshire/
All items must be new and in the original sealed packaging (except recreation items). Homemade food items cannot be accepted.
The food items for care packages include: gum, Lifesavers, mints (blister pack gum is best because of the intense heat); individual serving size cans (not plastic) of fruit, dried fruit; nuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, trail mix; power bars, protein bars, nutritional bars; beef jerky, beef summer sausage (nonperishable; labeled USDA Beef); single-serving bags of snacks, crackers, chips, snack mixes; Pop Tarts, cereal bars, "milk & cereal" bars, granola bars; Ramen noodles, Cup-O-Noodles serving cups; Ravioli and other canned ready-to-eat meals (canned/Styrofoam single serving are best); tuna lunch kits (including foil pouch of tuna, crackers, condiments in each single-serving kit); canned sardines, smoked oysters; Torengos nacho-style chips and canned nacho cheese dip; jalapeño Velveeta and crackers; Taco Bell sauce packets; seasoning salts, flavoring salts; beverage items including coffee, coffee mixes, tea, hot cocoa mix, lemonade mix, Koolade mix, Tang, iced tea mix, Gatorade mix (powdered only), Crystal Light (or other brand), "On The Go" flavor packets, and sugar and creamer packets for coffee;
The clothing items for care packages include: 100-percent cotton socks and underwear (any color), T-shirts, military-green cotton boot socks (try military surplus stores); and fingerless gloves and stocking caps during winter months only.
They also welcome care package items for communicating to loved ones back home, including disposable cameras, envelopes, paper, pens, small pads of paper, notebooks (a size they can keep in a pocket and keep dry), small drawing pads, and small, blank journals.
They also welcome recreation items for the care packages, including Hacky Sacks, tennis balls, deck of cards, hand-held games, Gameboy Advance games, movie DVDs (new or used; original only), music CDs (new or used; original only), and portable DVD players. Current magazines and paperback books are also nice but, please, no romance novels.
Suggestions for personal care items for care packages include: baby wipes for personal hygiene (alcohol-free); liquid body wash (no pump-style dispensers); liquid hand sanitizers (no pump-style dispensers); disposable hand sanitizing wipes; sunblock; throat lozenges; eye drops (to relieve dry eye, not redness); or Blistex, Chapstick, Carmex (in stick-tubes rather than tubs).
They welcome items for foot care including: cotton socks, black, green, or white; boot liners/insoles; odor eaters for boots; Lotrimin AF or Tinactin for athlete's foot (tubes of ointment or cream or the bottle of drops-no aerosol spray type); medicated foot powder; medicated foot swabs moleskin.