First Command's Package Brigade Sends Love to Soldiers Through Care Packages.

Group Sends a Bit of Home to Iraq Soldiers on Labor Day for the 'Labor' They Endure Every Day

FORT WORTH, Texas -- For a group of employees at Fort Worth-based First Command Financial Services, supporting our troops overseas is a labor of love and they are showing it by sending them care packages on Labor Day.

For more than three years, dozens of First Command employees have donated items for the packages and money to cover shipping costs. They've used their own time on weekends to make endless trips to bulk warehouse stores for supplies to make sure that significant days during the year -- such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Memorial Day - don't go unnoticed.

Since 2003, hundreds of packages have been sent to client soldiers and members of their battalions, and as long as American soldiers still have a presence in Iraq, the packages will continue to keep coming, according to Package Brigade organizer Vicky Rollins.

"These packages are the very least we can do to help support our troops overseas," Rollins said. "Although the packages themselves come in handy, it's really about helping to raise morale and letting service people know that we support them 100 percent."

The care packages contain such items as snacks, lip balm, cards, hand wipes, books, puzzles and water guns and are wrapped with good wishes of love and support.

"We're extremely proud of this group of people who take money out of their own pockets and time out of their busy schedules to create these packages, which are really gestures," said James Lanier, chairman of the board. "That's why we're happy to give them time at work to put these packages together and get them ready for the post office."

The next round of packages to go out will be Thanksgiving, according to Rollins. The Thanksgiving push usually involves bigger packages with more items.

First Command Financial Services and its subsidiaries, including First Command Bank and First Command Financial Planning, assist American families in their efforts to build wealth, reduce debt and pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams--focusing on consumer behavior as the first and most powerful determinant of results. Through personalized financial plans that emphasize investments, insurance and full-service banking, First Command Financial Advisors have established lasting relationships with hundreds of thousands of client families since 1958.

For more information about First Command, visit www.firstcommand.com.

First Command Financial Services, Inc. is the parent company of First Command Financial Planning, Inc. (Member SIPC) and First Command Bank (Member FDIC). Insurance products and services are offered by First Command Financial Services, Inc. Financial planning services and securities products are offered by First Command Financial Planning, Inc. Banking products and services are offered by First Command Bank. Securities products are not FDIC insured, have no bank guarantee and may lose value. In certain states, First Command Financial Services, Inc. is a separately registered domestic corporation and does business in California as "First Command Insurance Services."