Back in 2009, Marine Corps veteran Donald Downer Jr. started sending care packages to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last Friday, he sent his 3,000th care package, this one addressed to Capt. John Lefebvre who is currently serving in Afghanistan, reports the Baltimore Sun.
At approximately $17.35 per care package, it's estimated that Downer has spent almost $116,000, according to the paper.
"It's enlightening to know that one person can do so much to keep the morale of the troops," Downer, 88, of Colombia, Md., told the Baltimore Sun. "The most important item is what they put in their stomach and if you can fill it, it's very appreciative from their standpoint."
When Downer was 17, he quit high school to join the Marines and was sent Tsingtao, China. His mom would send him care packages of chocolate chip cookies and spam. In 1948, care packages were sent by boat and could take 30 days to arrive at their destination.
"After 30 days on the boat ride, those cookies were just crumbs, but the Marines would gather around and wolf down those crumbs," Downer told the Baltimore Sun. "Nothing was wasted; even the dust was poured into the coffee. And it got so I couldn't even look at the Spam."
His packages often contain items such as magazines, foot powder, Tabasco sauce, sausage, sunflower seeds, Pop Tarts, Cracker Jacks and his signature item: a can of Spam, earning him the nickname, the "Spam Czar." Marines all over the world have sent their thanks and even gifts, including folded American flags and an Afghan rug or embroidered silk.
"I know how important it is to get a care package from home when one is deployed overseas in the military," Downer said on his website, GoDonGo. "I am now compelled to ensure, in some small way, to make as many of these deployed service personnel a little happier when they receive a care package, from someone back home who cares."
