Mission Beach Women’s Club needs donations for servicewomen’s care packages

The Mission Beach Women’s Club is preparing packages for its 16th annual S.O.S (Support our Servicewomen) Campaign in honor of Veterans Day.

Each fall, the club raises funds and collects donations from the community to send care packages to military women deployed overseas.

This year, the deadline is Nov. 10 for community members to donate money to cover shipping and cost of items purchased for the care packages. To contribute, click on the S.O.S. Donate QR code on the club’s website, mbwc.org.

In past years, gift boxes have been filled with things like puzzles, books, games, cards, blankets and other items to remind the recipients of home.

Mission Beach Women’s Club members Sarah Mattinson-Archond and Nancy Person are the project’s co-chairs. Their committee includes 28 women that aid in organizing and planning the campaign.

Mattinson-Archond has been involved with the club since 2006, and since its inception she has helped lead the S.O.S. Campaign.

“I helped start it because we had a serviceman that was on our street that was deployed for the third time, and I was walking into a meeting and was like, ‘What can we do, you know, to help their spirits?’” she said. “So we started (the care packages) with servicemen in the beginning, and then switched to servicewomen, because we found there was a big need for that.

“A lot of care packages are geared toward men. And so when we heard that need, we switched to all (packages for) servicewomen,” she said.

Person, who is Mattinson-Archond’s neighbor and close friend, said that when she heard about the S.O.S. project, it influenced her to join the club. Since 2012, she has served as the project’s co-chair.

“I feel community service and helping veterans and active duty families is super important,” Person said. “I mean, I love being able to help people; that is what brings me the most satisfaction.”

This year, the club has had to navigate some changes in new customs forms that have affected how members will prepare and mail packages. As of Sept. 1, the new customs laws implemented by the White House require itemization for each item in the care packages, including their weight, HS code and country of origin.

“We’re a bit more limited in what we are sending, and every package will have to be the same,” Mattinson-Archond said.

In previous years, the club was able to fill care packages with things like leftover Halloween candy, books from community members and a wide assortment of toiletries and snacks. With the new regulations, they must know ahead of time exactly what is going in each box, so they can correctly fill out the respective forms with customs.

It is for this reason that they need monetary donations instead of item donations, so they can make all the boxes identical.

For Person and Mattinson-Archond, the important thing is to continue this fundraiser and support women who are deployed. Despite the new logistical changes, Mattinson-Archond said they want to beat the number of care packages they sent out last year, which was 260.

“It’s going to be interesting this year, but we’re going to make it work,” she said.

Like in previous years, if someone knows a local servicewoman who is currently deployed overseas and will continue to be overseas after Nov. 11, they can request to have a box sent to this individual.

“We did receive feedback from women, and they wrote us notes saying that our packages sometimes were the only package they received when they were deployed, and they couldn’t have been more appreciative that we took care to send really homey things,” Person said.

The club will continue to partner with local elementary schools to provide handwritten notes to put in the care packages; both women said adding a personal touch was crucial to this project. Both also have connections to the military, as Person’s father and husband, and Mattinson-Archond’s father are veterans.

“We’re very lucky to be living in the United States and feel safe,” Mattinson-Archond said. “I feel like there’s a lot of people that forget how many people are overseas, you know, protecting us and supporting the United States. So I really want to try to support them in any way we can.”

All of the Mission Beach Women’s Club philanthropy is run through its nonprofit foundation, according to Person.

Packages will be assembled at the club’s Veterans Day meeting on Nov. 11 and shipped the next day.

“Many members say that our November meeting is their most favorite meeting of the year, because of S.O.S., because of being involved in making a difference and showing our appreciation to service women,” Person said.