'It really would mean a lot to them': Canadian Armed Forces ask for holiday greetings

OTTAWA — Many Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members deployed abroad will not be home with their families this holiday season, and one official CAF social media account has a simple request.

The popular Canadian Forces in the US Twitter account put out a request for holiday greetings that can be sent to CAF members abroad.

"Many of us will spend the holidays with our families. Many of us will not. It would mean a great deal to us if you sent them a greeting," the message said.

Canada Post is continuing with free delivery of letters and parcels to deployed troops from their family and friends during the 2020 holiday season, but you can also send a greeting card or letter to any CAF member if you wish, though you will require postage in that case.

Simply mail a stamped letter or card to:

These envelopes may only contain correspondence. No other items can be mailed to the "any CAF member" address. Packages containing anything else will be returned to you at your expense, the government says.

You can also specify a specific mission or region to send your letters or cards.

Schools, groups, businesses and associations may send cards and letters bulked in a parcel to "Any Canadian Armed Forces Member". The parcel is not to contain any other item other than correspondence and requires postage.

Christmas cards typically need to arrive by Dec. 9 in order to be shipped in time for Christmas, but they will continue to be accepted and mailed afterwards too, and for other holidays, the CAFinUS told CTV News.

"It really would mean a lot to them," the CAFinUS account added.

You can find more information about how and where to send items to CAF members on the government's website.