Congregational Deacon Marilyn Griffiths of Faith Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, supports military men and women who are currently serving overseas on deployment. Marilyn’s daughter, Spc. Sandra Sampson, U.S. Army Reserves, is presently deployed in the Middle East, and expressed to her mother that many soldiers were not receiving any comforts of home. In response, Deacon Marilyn began a project called "Destination APO" with a mission to send comforts of home to these soldiers/units to let them know that people back home care and are supporting them.
The mission is to enhance the quality of life to military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and remote locations. Destination APO collects items including toothpaste/toothbrushes, foot powder, body wash, antibacterial wipes, baby wipes (for cleaning rifles), chewing gum, lip balm, sunscreen lotion, shampoo, conditioner, flip flops (protect feet), insect repellant wipes, baby powder (removes sand), hand sanitizer, Q-tips, dried fruit, loofahs, and deodorant. A more complete list of items is available if you would like to donate supplies (see contact info below).
Destination APO’s believes that there is power in numbers, and the sum of the whole group is greater than what the individual organizations can accomplish by themselves. Deacon Marilyn is a volunteer with two non-profit organizations in her hometown of Mt. Laurel, NJ that sort, pack, and send the boxes to soldiers. These organizations are funded solely through the efforts of private citizens, civic organizations, churches, and veterans organizations.
Anyone who has a loved one serving in the military or knows of someone who has a loved one serving, please feel free to send their complete APO/FPO address to Dc. Marilyn at via e-mail to "> to place them on the list to receive comforts of home.