Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Anyone can log in to either send a care package for a friend or loved one (as a Champion), or receive a care pack as a “Hero.” Once they choose which items they want to order in the care pack from the product catalog, they place their order. CPFH will then schedule that care package, assemble it, and ship it (at the designated time).

Instead of a generic care package, CPFH offers customized care packs that we will schedule throughout a hero’s deployment. This means your hero will receive a care pack that contains their “favorite” items from home, not simply an assortment of donated items. Think of it as being a personal shopper for a special person who isn’t able to run over to the local store. To make it easier, you’ll have a “gift registry” for them. Also, family and friends are invited to help share the ordering of care packs. This alleviates the financial burden placed on just one family member sending every care pack to their hero. The scheduling feature of our website will allow your hero to receive care packs throughout their deployment.

There are no minimum orders or maximum orders. Keep in mind, however, that shipping costs will be the majority of your purchase price if you send one pack of gum. Alternately, if your order is large enough to require more than one box to ship, that may be an additional shipping fee.

Sure! If that is the only item your hero wants, then you can order 5 packs of that cookie, or 10 packs, etc. You customize the care pack you send however you want to. Hopefully, the gift registry your hero has selected will encompass a wide variety of items for you to choose from, but you are the one who ultimately creates the care package.

We will have a “Request Item” feature so additional items can be researched and possibly added to our catalog. Special order items will be handled on a case by case basis, and may be subject to minimum quantity requirements. If you have a specific product request, please email us at info@carepacksforheroes.org.

Many foreign countries where US troops are stationed have restrictions on what is allowed to be sent through the mail. We will designate items in our product catalog if they are not allowed in a certain country. Please click on http://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/immctry.htm for a complete listing of restrictions for each country. CPFH does not offer the following products as a matter of policy: alcohol, tobacco, over the counter internal drug items, weapons, flammable items, or adult entertainment.

Yes, we are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

We will have a paid staff to handle the everyday fulfillment of care packages that we ship. We will schedule some “Volunteer Days” in the future for those who would like to contribute their time and effort in filling care packs. CPFH will happily partner with youth groups, church groups, military family organizations, and local school clubs to inform them of our purpose, how we operate, and why their support is important. We are located in Orange County in Southern California, so living in that area will be vital for volunteer work. We appreciate all the offers we’ve had so far to help!

Yes! There are a couple ways that you can help us support our troops serving abroad. You can make a monetary donation at our website by clicking here. We will use these donations to further our mission of assisting families of troops.

Or, you can contact us at info@carepacksforheroes.org about our “Adopt A Soldier” program.

Our idea came in fifth for the month of May 2011 in the Pepsi Refresh Contest! The top 10 in our category won the $50K in grant money from Pepsi, so we were very excited to receive these funds. We thank everyone who voted for us, especially anyone who power voted for us.

When your hero receives your particular care pack will depend on when you place your order, his/her deployment period, and how many other family/friends order care packs. When you order a care pack, a ship date will be assigned to it. Once your hero receives your care pack, he/she will have the option of thanking you with a post card addressed to the purchaser of the care pack. Actual delivery times will vary, because of the widely varying delivery service throughout the world.

CPFH will generate a ship date that will be assigned to you based on availability and duration of your Hero’s deployment. This date is determined by internal programming to help ensure that the hero receives a care pack throughout their deployment. Basically, if your hero is deployed for six months, and six family/friends order care packs, then he will receive one care pack each month. If twelve Champions order care packs, then the first six orders will ship as before (one per month), and the next six orders will ship in the third week of each month. Although this may sound confusing, our goal is to evenly distribute your hero’s care packages throughout their deployment, so they don’t receive twelve care packs in their first week abroad, and then nothing for the rest of their deployment.

Shipping fees will depend on the quantity and size of the items you select for your hero’s care pack. As you “fill” your care pack, you can go to checkout to see what that fee will be. We use various sizes of flat rate boxes, and will minimize the cost to you by using the smallest and/or the fewest boxes to send your care pack.