A Marine from New Jersey has organized a care package drive so that the members of his team will get mail from home while they are away on deployment.

Marine Sgt. Ryan Cotterell says that he knows what is like to be overseas and miss the holidays away from home.

“It’s different. They try on the ship or on deployment to make it better, but you get a second to sit by yourself…and it’s hard,” he says.

Cotterell, a Middletown native, says that he is getting ready for his second deployment with the Marines as the lead of a recon team of newcomers.

"Some of them are like me and they don't tell their mom everything, so they're not passing out their emails that they have or their ship address, so I decided to do it for them,” he says.

Cotterell made a post on a Middletown Facebook group asking for care packages for his team, and the response was overwhelming.

“We are a very big, small town and we get reminded of that every once in a while,” he says.

The Marine says that the best items to send in care packages are snacks, toiletries, like shaving cream, and books and magazines.

“We’ll go out. Do something, come back. Clean our gear, eat and probably go out again. I just want them to be able to relax and take their time for themselves,” Cotterell says. “If they get something from home, I just want them to be able to look back and smile.”

Anyone who wants to send a care package can ship it to the address below. It typically takes about three to five weeks for mail to reach the ship.