Packages From Home History

Packages From Home began as a labor of love for founder, Kathleen Lewis’s son, Christian, a soldier with the Army's 1st Infantry Division.

On September 11, 2001, Christian turned on the TV and was shocked to learn about the devastating terrorist attacks that had occurred that morning. Motivated by patriotism and a strong sense of duty, Christian responded by leaving his home and enlisting in the United States Army that same day.

Motivated by patriotism and a strong sense of duty, Christian responded by leaving his home and enlisting in the United States Army that same day.

In March 2004, Christian was deployed to Iraq and Kathleen began sending care packages to him on a regular basis. Shortly thereafter, Kathleen received a phone call from Christian thanking her for the packages from home. He told her that receiving familiar items not only provided the comforts of home that he missed so much, but also reminded him that someone was thinking of him, which helped him combat the loneliness and dangers of deployed life. Receiving the packages motivated him to fight for his country and come home safe to his friends and family.

Along with her friends and neighbors, Kathleen began having monthly "Packing Parties" in her garage, sending requested and needed items to Christian and the soldiers in his squad. As we all know, volunteering for a good cause is contagious, and as Kathleen and her small group of volunteers kept sending packages, more and more people began to get involved.

The grassroots effort began to grow by leaps and bounds from November 2004. By then, the amount of donated goods and funds for postage had increased so much that the group requested charitable status with the IRS and finally became a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Today, Packages From Home’s primary purpose is to provide food, personal care, and recreational items to deployed American servicemen and women from every branch of the military, at no cost to them, while simultaneously supporting the needs of military working/service dogs and veterans who have returned home. And Packages From Home does all of this by relying mostly on the generosity of volunteers and donors, as the organization only employs one full-time and two part-time team members on its staff.