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Home Notes from the Smokehouse Treating The Troops, One Salmon at A Time

Treating The Troops, One Salmon at A Time

Treating The Troops, One Salmon at A Time

As a small company, it is very important to us that the charitable donations we are able to make to have an impact.  Toward that goal, in 2011 we came up with a program upon which we've been able to focus our efforts for maximum impact, and are excited to keep growing into the future: Treat The Troops.  The idea was born when Patti, our longest running team member, sent smoked salmon to a friend of her son who was serving in Afghanistan. It was a huge hit with him and the rest of hist troopmates. We knew we had found our idea!

 

How It Works

The idea behind Treat The Troops is all very simple - a customer purchases our Ready to Eat Wild Salmon to donate to military troops deployed around the world, and we match it 100%.  So if a customer donates one pouch, we donate one pouch.  If a customer donates 10 pouches, we donate 10 pouches.  And if a customer donates 30 pouches (which has happened many times) we match by donating 30 pouches, to complete a whole case of 60.  Once we have a 60-pouch case, we close it up and ship it off to a military troop -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard -- serving somewhere around the globe.

 

We are often asked how we select the troops to receive these shipments.  They are nominated by friends, family, spouses -- or even themselves -- simply by sending us a request.

 

Treat The Troops is a program all of us at the smokehouse are proud to offer and thrilled to build. In particular, members of our team who are part of military families (and there are many, as we are near a military base on Whidbey Island) love that we offer this unique program. Here is what two of them have to share:

 

"I love our Treat the Troops program because of its IMPACT. Care packages are so important for morale during deployments, and gifts like these make a real difference. My husband is now a Navy reservist. At his civilian job, one of his coworkers—a member of the National Guard—commented on the Ready to Eat Salmon he was enjoying for lunch. The coworker remarked ‘I know SeaBear, I received a care package from them years ago while I was deployed. That’s great salmon!’ I love how memorable and impactful the SeaBear Treat the Troops program is, even years later."  -- Carly B.

 

"As a military spouse, I appreciate that there are individuals and companies that think about what our military might enjoy and send it to them as a gift from “home”. Something like the Treat The Troops program helps them remember that a larger group of probably strangers are thinking about them and want them to have something good." - Crystal B.

 

Our Customers Have Responded

SeaBear customers love the program, and have been so very generous. Since the start, we've now shipped over 35,000 pouches to military troops around the world.  We keep everyone up to date on the latest program results with this Treat The Troops Tracker in our Smokehouse Store, for all to see.

 

 

The Troops Have Responded, Too

So often we hear back from the troops who receive these shipments, and we LOVE what they send us.  We have received countless photos like the ones below.

 

 

 

 

Also, we've been thrilled to receive many, many notes of thanks; a few favorites include:

 

"The packages of Salmon arrived and were a HUGE HIT! The Soldiers love getting their protein in and Salmon certainly does the trick. It stayed fresh and the taste was outstanding. We truly appreciate your support out here. It's organizations like your that make us feel appreciated and reminds us of what we are fighting for. Thank you again, and please tell everyone involved in "Operation Wild Salmon", it was a great success. Blessings..."
 
"Good morning!! I just wanted to say 'Thank You' to your company for sending the smoked salmon to our soldiers in Iraq!! My husband messaged me this morning and was so excited and grateful! You have made their day!! I'm sure we will be paying you a visit when he returns. He said that was the best stuff he's had and that I need to try it. Thank you for supporting our military!"
 
"Thank you a million times over!! Our sailors are still talking about how delicious they are!! Morale has been boosted and it's all thanks to you all!"

 

And finally, we have been fortunate to even receive some gifts from recipients of Treat The Troops shipments.  We are honored to display these at our smokehouse; here is our favorite:

Want To Participate?

To donate pouches -- which SeaBear will match 100% -- visit our Treat The Troops page on SeaBear.com.  We always have more highly deserving troops nominated to receive shipments than we have donations available to send, so every pouch helps!

Have a troop you'd like to nominate to possibly receive a shipment?  You can submit their information HERE.

 

Thank you to all our generous customers for all their donations over the years, and we look forward to shipping even more salmon to deployed military around the world in the months and years ahead.

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