How to Adopt a Marine

Adopting a marine gives civilians far from the action a chance to support and connect with our troops. Adopting a Marine can entail exchanging emails or sending care packages tailored to your Marine’s specific needs. Marines can be adopted by individuals or groups. Service organizations or clubs may find that adopting one or more Marines is a particularly meaningful service project. Adopt-a-Marine programs ask that adopters remain committed to the project for at least 6 months to 1 year in order not to disappoint their chosen Marine.

Instructions

1. Contact your local base and ask if they can connect you with anyone who is coordinating an Adopt-a-Marine program at the local level. One advantage to working with a local program is that you may be able to coordinate shipping of care packages.

2. Ask friends if they have any relatives or friends serving in the Marines. They may be able to provide you with personal information regarding the Marine’s likes and dislikes that you wouldn’t get with a formal program. You will also be able to give the Marine information on events occurring in your hometown that a stranger would not be able to provide.

3. Work with a formal Adopt-a-Marine organization. There are a number of these organizations, including anymarine.com, soldiersangels.org, adoptaplatoon.org and ryanrust.com. Some sites require you to complete and submit an application, while others allow you to choose your own Marine from their website. All of these sites provide very specific information as to what types of items each individual Marine wants or needs (see Resources below).

4. Email a Marine. If you would like to stay in touch with a Marine on a regular basis, consider an email relationship. Emailourmilitary.com will match you with a Marine after you complete an application available on the website. A special account has been created just for children who wish to contact a Marine, and the group encourages participation by schools and scout troops (see Resources below).

5. Get in touch with local veteran’s groups and ask if they have any ongoing Adopt-a-Marine programs. Sometimes these groups adopt entire platoons and can use help meeting the needs of the Marines in the platoon (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to hear from your Marine. Between busy days and moving to new locations, it can be difficult for Marines to get back to their adopters.

• Carefully follow the lists the organization you choose provides to you before sending anything overseas. The organization will let you know what types of items are not permitted and explain how to pack and mail your care packages.

Resources

• Any Marine
• Ryan Rust
• Soldier's Angels
• Email Our Military
• Adopt a Platoon