A message from Federal Member for Fairfax, the Hon. Alex Somlyay MP…
The Christmas period is when most of us get to spend that little bit of extra time with our families and loved ones and to catch up with old friends.
It is also a time to reflect on those who won’t be able to spend Christmas with their families and friends, such as the thousands of Australian troops who are serving on operations far from home.
This holiday season, I encourage everyone on the Sunshine Coast to show their support for our troops by sending them a care package, a letter or donating to one of the many organisations that support our serving men and women.
To show your support for the troops this Christmas you can send them a care package, free of charge, through Australia Post. Australia Post allows free delivery for packages weighing no more than 2kg (cubed) to our soldiers on the front line.
When sending your parcel don’t forget to include a letter of support to the troops and include a stamped self addressed envelope so they can send a letter back to you.
Parcels should be addressed to An Australian Defence Member and the mailing address and further details, including what to send and what not to send, can be obtained by calling my office on tel. 5479 2800.
Another option you may like to consider is donating money to the RSL’s Australian Forces Overseas Fund. The RSL provides care packages to Australian troops as well as Australian Federal Police personnel biannually, and your support would contribute to this valuable programme.
Please don’t hesitate to contact my office for further details regarding the RSL’s Australian Forces Overseas Fund. Alternatively donations can be made to Legacy (www.legacy.com.au) or Soldier On (www.soldieron.org.au) to support those personnel who have been wounded on operations and those family members who are suffering financially and socially from the death of a loved one.
Last Christmas approximately 10 tonnes worth of care packages were distributed to personnel deployed overseas and I urge all Australians to again dig deep and support our serving men and women.
Merry Christmas.****