Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., center, poses with staff of the Connecticut nonprofit Boxes to Boots. (Sen. Richard Blumenthal via X)
MANCHESTER, Conn. (Tribune News Service) — Last week, Kristen Gauvin arrived at the Berlin, Conn., offices of her nonprofit, Boxes to Boots, to a nasty shock.
Nearly 900 of the 1,139 care packages that the group had sent overseas to military personnel celebrating Christmas away from their families had been returned by the United States Postal Service, with little explanation as to why.
Now, Gauvin’s struggle might lead to change across the country for military families.
On Friday, Gauvin stood next to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in those same offices as he promised to pass federal legislation to make it easier to ship care packages to military bases.
“After listening to him talk about his proposed bill, I am feeling very hopeful and excited,” Gauvin told CT Insider Friday. “I’m thinking that maybe this all happened for a reason, so we can pave a clear path for other military families and nonprofit organizations.”
Blumenthal’s new bill, the “Support Our Troops Shipping Relief Act of 2025,” which he plans to introduce next week, would require the USPS to treat care packages shipped to overseas military bases as domestic mail.
It would also simplify the requirements for the descriptions that senders must provide on those packages, which is what has blocked many of the Boxes to Boots shipments this year.
The nonprofit had been shipping care packages for a decade without issue. When Boxes to Boots packages were returned earlier this month, Gauvin said the only explanation of what had gone wrong was the word ‘toiletries’ circled with a red pencil.
“Boxes to Boots provides just incredible caring and cheer; it really brightens the holiday for our troops abroad at a time when they are likely to be loneliest,” Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. “Stopping these packages even for an instant seems unimaginably cruel and thoughtless.”
A spokesperson for USPS confirmed that the boxes had been turned back because of the lack of detail on the shipping forms, which “were not filled out correctly in line with current regulations.” In September of this year, customs officials updated their regulations to require more detailed descriptions on overseas packages.
“We worked with Boxes to Boots to obtain clarifying information sufficient to resolve all the export compliance issues,” the USPS spokesperson wrote. “We are picking up the boxes this morning and they will begin their transit to the troops.”
Gauvin said that when she initially had her packages returned, she felt frustrated and isolated. But Blumenthal had taken up the cause, bringing her case to USPS leadership in Washington, D.C., to ensure that her packages made it to the troops, even if they were delayed.
After the story was picked up by the national media, she also received an eye-opening flood of calls from military families and nonprofits from across the country, all sharing their own struggles with care packages that had been returned and marked as “undeliverable, unrefundable.”
From Massachusetts to Florida and Texas, Gauvin heard stories of parents having to scramble to resend their packages to children who had been deployed for years, struggling with unclear customs labeling and unsure whether they would get their gifts by Christmas.
“There is a nationwide issue going on with military mail,” Gauvin said. “I hope that my speaking out is going to help solve a national issue. And I hope that our troops are getting their mail OK going forward.”
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