Thank You Charles Schwab For Sponsoring our Veterans Day Packing Party

*Thanks to a special Veterans Day partnership with Charles Schwab hundreds of Care Packages shipped in honor of our veterans.*

We are grateful and filled with pride over our partnership with sponsor Charles Schwab and their team of volunteers who generously came through for our troops with a Bronze Level sponsorship to help us cover shipping costs for hundreds of care packages.

Charles Schwab supplied a team of smartly dressed volunteers from their Military Veterans Network (MVN) to Troopathon headquarters to pitch in, and pack hundreds of troop care packages filled with snacks, personal care items, socks, cookies, coffee and more, including messages of gratitude for our troops serving all over the world.

Charles Schwab even donated special tubes of lip balm bound for our service members to help soothe dry chapped lips, each inscribed with an uplifting message of support on each tube. Charles Schwab’s Veterans Day sponsorship is their way to honor those who have served and to help those troops who are still on the front lines today!

The enthusiastic volunteer members of Charles Schwab’s MVN group understand service, mostly having served or come from families who have served, so this cause is near and dear to their hearts.

Summer Lemmon, Assistant Branch Manager for Charles Schwab in Sacramento, knows the sacrifices military members and families make. Her father served in the Air Force for twenty-five years. “I remember my dad being away and feeling like he wasn’t. getting enough love. So, it’s the least we can do to pack these boxes full of love and let our troops know that they are cared about back at home.”

Jason Roeske, another Schwab MVN volunteer wanted us to know “We are here to show our support to our veterans of this great nation It just means the world to know this is going to make the sacrifices they make a little bit better just to receive a package from home.” When we asked Jason what he would like to say to our troops receiving these care packages, he simply added “Thank You, truly Thank You!”

Thank You to the Charles Schwab MVN team, you made celebrating Veteran’s Day more meaningful through your act of love and support.

WWP and Troopathon Turkey Giveaway

*Wounded Warrior Project pitches in to make Thanksgiving special with donated turkeys for local veterans and military families in need of holiday cheer.*

Our friends at Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) joined us in the lead up to Thanksgiving to distribute dozens of Thanksgiving turkeys for deserving military families and veterans in need. WWP and Troopathon even received extra help with our event from Blue Star volunteers who wanted to lend their helping hands.

Of course, there were ear-to-ear smiles to go around from the grateful turkey recipients queued up outside. We did our absolute best to make distribution easy, offering a drive-up line to facilitate fast and easy pick-up delivered with smiles and enthusiastic wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving. We are happy to help ease the stress of trying to put on a nice meal for those who might find the stress of extra holiday expenses a burden.

Our Wounded Warriors know first-hand what service and sacrifice mean. Our partnership offers opportunities for WWP to support their brothers and sisters serving today. We are proud to facilitate this impressive support program that benefits so many.

Additionally, thanks to our diligent volunteers we were able to pack and assemble hundreds of holiday care packages bound for our deployed troops. Bringing Smiles across the miles!

By supporting their fellow troops serving today, a strong bridge of connection brings healing, a sense of pride, and the knowledge one can still contribute. We are proud to facilitate this formidable support program and stand arm-in-arm with our brave WWP warriors.

Our veterans often face difficulty once returning from deployment. A multitude of our veteran’s face challenges we simply cannot understand. Research shows volunteer opportunities for our veterans affords them connection and a sense of value. Thank you, WWP and our special Blue Star volunteers for pitching in to support our current generation of warriors.

How Sweet It Is! See’s Candy for our Troops

*Visions of Christmas Past, with our troops receiving See’s Candies as an extra sweet surprise!*

Deck the Halls, or Deck the Decks, for some of our deployed service members! ‘Tis the Season for See’s for Soldiers! That’s right, as the calendar flips from November to December, we gear up for our big Christmas shipping rush. While we remain extremely busy, we aren’t too busy to make sure our troop receive extra special treats for the holidays while supplies last.

Just in time for our special Christmas care packages, we are bringing back a delicious troop favorite. Our See’s for Soldiers program returns for an 11th season offering delicious, decadent, premium See’s candies.

See’s Candies in our care packages delight our troops and is sure to bring sweet smiles and sweet dreams to our homesick troops this Christmas season!

Troopathon’s exclusive See's for Soldiers Program is one our most beloved support efforts to bring the joy of See's Candy to our troops serving around the globe.

Our See's for Soldiers program allows See's holiday pop up store locations throughout California to collect candy donations bound for the troops. If you shop at a The See's location over the coming weeks and can donate treats for our soldiers, rest assured the donated candy we receive is carefully hand-packed and included in our care packages.

A Troopathon care package offers a variety of treats for our troops like Bombas socks, energy drinks, gourmet coffee, premium beef jerky, Girl Scout cookies, trail mix or mixed nuts, baby wipes, granola/protein bars, gum and mints, sunflower seeds, hot chocolate/cider, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, foot cream/powder, SPF ChapStick, SPF sunscreen, boot socks, magazines and books, playing cards, phone calling cards, hygiene packs, M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles and other assorted treats, as well as a personal note from you sure to bring a smile. Each package’s content will depend on what is currently available, so each package is unique and filled to the maximum.

Since 1921, See's Candy has made the best chocolates and confectioneries for millions of loyal candy lovers. See's makes over twenty-six million pounds of candy a year and now through January, while supplies last and weather permits, our Christmas and New Year's packages will include this sweet extra surprise!

One Last 2025 Gift: Let Your IRA or DAF Deliver Christmas to the Front Lines

Christmas is coming fast, and right now thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardians are far from home—standing watch so the rest of us can celebrate in peace.

For many of them, a Troopathon care package is the closest thing to “home for the holidays.” One box says, loud and clear: “America remembers you. America loves you.” That someone who remembers them? That’s you.

Every single care package we send is hand-packed and personally addressed and fulfills a request we received straight from a deployed troop or their family. Your gift today becomes the very next box that lands in a lonely troop’s hands.

Each box is stuffed with hundreds of dollars’ worth of premium jerky, snacks, hygiene items, socks, entertainment, and handwritten notes of gratitude. Just getting it overseas costs us over $15 in postage alone. Every dollar you send goes straight to filling and flying the next request.

This Christmas you can make that happen—often at little or no out-of-pocket cost—using one of these tax-smart options before December 31:

Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA If you’re 70½ or older, you can direct some (or all) of your 2025 Required Minimum Distribution straight to Troopathon—100% tax-free. Simply tell your IRA custodian or financial advisor: Make the check payable to: Troopathon EIN / Tax ID: 84-1627277 Send to: Troopathon 3105 Fite Circle, Suite 108 Sacramento, CA 95827. That’s it. They’ll take care of the rest, and it counts toward your RMD with zero taxable income.
Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Grant Recommend a grant to: Troopathon – EIN 84-1627277 Most platforms (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc.) already have us listed.
Employer Matching Gifts Many companies and federal agencies will double your impact. Check with HR or use the matching tool on our donation page.
Leave a legacy gift in your will (free online tool, takes 10 minutes): https://partner.freewill.com/troopathon (look for “Free Will” link at the bottom)

Your gift—no matter the size—becomes the very next care package that tells a deployed hero, “You are not forgotten this Christmas.”

From all of us at Troopathon, and from the troops who will rip open that box with a huge smile—thank you for standing in the gap for them.

Merry Christmas, God bless you, and God bless the men and women who keep us free.

- TROOPATHON TEAM

P.S. The tax-year clock stops at midnight on December 31. If your custodian needs extra time, please call them this week—we want every possible box to make it out the door!

December Photo of the Month

“Our troop is made up of Texas National Guard soldiers, most from the Dallas–Fort Worth area. For many, this is their first deployment and the first time being away from home—especially during the holiday season.”

“Receiving a care package means the world to our soldiers. Being far from home—many for the first time—can be challenging, especially during the holidays. A package reminds them that people back home are thinking of them, supporting them, and appreciating the work they do every day. It brings comfort and lifts spirits!” — Preston L., National Guard, Deployed