Mesa man sends care packages every day to troops overseas

MESA, Ariz. (FOX 10) - Howard Love spends much of his day in his special room packing and sending supplies.

"Over 200 soldiers, over 3,600 boxes," he said.

In 14 years, nearly $119,000 has been spent.

"I was mailing boxes for a group at work and that group kind of fell apart and some guys were giving me money," he said. "I said, 'if you continue giving me the money, I'll find someone to mail it to."

Love has since retired, but his passion to help the troops is still very much active.

"Mark Vasquez, he lives in Tennesee," Love said.

The packages are addressed to soldiers serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea -- just to name a few.

"People just say, 'hey, my son's over there,'" Love said.

Love keeps a list and chooses one name, every single day.

"My record holder is one soldier, 76 boxes," he said.

He purchases candy and cookies and socks and shirts. Some of what is shipped is donated, like the coffee Starbucks' employees give to him from their own supply.

"These guys realize as soon as I walk in... you want my coffee, and they grind it up," Love said. "This is from Bradley: 'I got your second package today, the one that included the coffee and hats. Thank you very much.'"

When the work is done, Love sits in his room reading through countless emails. The gratitude is what he says keeps him going, motivates him to fight his own battle against cancer and keep letting the troops know how appreciated they are.