The Oak Harbor Navy League is looking for items to be donated for care packages to send to sailors from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island on deployment.

Donations may be dropped off at the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce until Thursday, May 12. The packages will be put together on May 13 and delivered to be mailed.

Items most requested by personnel in Afghanistan include foot powder, beef jerky, powdered drink mixes with caffeine and flushable baby wipes. Beanie Babies are also a popular item.
“Send some in every package to all units, as they are really easy for the soldiers to carry with them and give to the local kids, who love them,” wrote Chief Lukas Gardner to a Navy League member.

Gardner is one of three NAS Whidbey Island sailors on the USS Cleveland, which is participating in Pacific Partnership 2011, a four-month humanitarian mission which will make stops in the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Here are the items most often requested:

Foot powder
Beef jerky
Powdered drink mixes (with caffeine)
Flushable baby wipes
Beanie Babies
Letters, cards
Deodorant (men’s and women’s)
Sample size perfume, soaps and lotions
Single-load size laundry detergents packs
Lip balms
Cookies
Pop Tarts
Gum
Hard candy
Canned nacho cheese dip
Wool/cotton blend boot socks
Boot liners, insoles and moleskin
Solid olive green T-shirts
Green PT shorts, silky type
Power, protein or granola bars
Mouthwash
Dental floss
Toothpaste
Sun block
Aloe Vera lotion
AA-battery Mag-lites
Duct tape
Black electrical tape
Magazines, books
Word and Soduku puzzles
Playing cards
Hand-held games
Body washes
Hand sanitizer