BOTHELL - Stacks of snack crackers, boxes of toothpaste, mounds of cookies and massive bags of beef jerky, that's what MaryJo Bader's Bothell living room is stuffed full of. The Navy mom is busy collecting these items for care packages to ship to sailors overseas. It's a true grassroots effort started by a dedicated woman.
"We have the box we'd probably put in a magazine, a book," said Bader.
Seems simple enough you throw in a few basic necessities.
"But, we'd take a couple of ChapSticks, some toothpaste, toothbrush," said Bader.
Also, add some sugary treats.
"Candy might be a candy bar," said Bader.
Maybe even something a little silly like a stuffed animal.
"This is cute because it has a little flag on it," said Bader.
Then, top it all off with love.
"This is the most important part, is letters of encouragement, pictures," said Bader.
MaryJo Bader's gotten good at making care packages sending them to her sailor son overseas for the last couple of years. But, now MaryJo is branching out.
"I love being a mother, so I mothered a whole bunch of sailors," said Bader.
Her son Jonathan got her into the giving mood after he told her a sad story about his buddy.
"But, he said mom he never gets any mail, would you just send him some mail, show him some love, so I did and Ryan was ecstatic," said Bader.
She started asking for donations and before she knew it, one care package became 130. Now, she's hoping to make 198 more, one for each sailor in her son's squadron who won't be able to make it home for the holidays.
It'll cost MaryJo more than $2,000 to ship the boxes.
"We're not a well to do family, we're not rich, we manage we do fine, but we're certainly not rich," said Bader.
MaryJo's family is willing to pass on giving Christmas presents to each other if it'll cover the shipping costs.
So, while it may seem simple it's so much more. With each box MaryJo packs a sailor will get a little bit of home, something this Navy mom has made her mission.
"We should show them that we care, especially the ones that don't have support from home, they need to know somebody back here cares for them," said Bader.
It takes a lot of time to collect all the supplies that's why MaryJo needs donations now. The family will pack the boxes the weekend before Thanksgiving and ship them out for the first week of December. If you would like to help call 425-205-0668.
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