When she’s deployed, Chelsea Mandello says opening up a care package is like coming home.
That’s why the 29-year-old U.S. Navy photojournalist created Troopster, an online ordering service that allows people to send their service members pre-made care packages while they are deployed.
Mandello said she was inspired to start the business in 2015 after a particularly difficult deployment. She was on a ship that was doing pilot operations, making it dangerous for the sailors to regularly receive mail. When the mail finally came, many care packages were ruined because the perishable items had melted or gone bad.
“A lot of them were filled with chocolates and baked goods,” Mandello said. “I remember opening this box, and I was so heartbroken because everything had gone bad. It was so depressing.”
That’s when she decided to do some research.
Mandello went online to see if there was a service that would make it easier for her mother to send her care packages with items that wouldn’t get ruined by delays. Realizing there wasn’t, she decided to fill the void and Troopster was born.
“[Being in the armed services] is a high-stress job,” Mandello said. “That’s why we need care packages … I know how hard it is to be on deployment, missing home just terribly, and then getting this care package that makes your day a million times better.”
“That’s what I want to do,” she added. “I want to make people happy.”
The Troopster website includes a variety of pre-made care packages with goodies in them like Ramen noodles, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Cheez-It crackers and Goldfish snacks. There’s also a smaller, kid-friendly package for the “Little Troop” in the family.
There are about 500 stock items for people to chose from if they want to customize a care package. These include fleece blankets, flashlights, toothpaste, movies and food items like peanut butter and popcorn.
Mandello, who calls herself a one-woman show, orders and packs the majority of the care packages herself. Sometimes she gets some help from friends like Kaycee McCoy.
McCoy is married to a Navy sailor who is currently deployed. She has used Troopster to send her husband care packages, and she also volunteers with the business.
“What Troopster really brings to the table is making it so simple to send a really nice, well-done care package that shows you care and are thinking about them, but doesn’t add one more stress to your day,” McCoy said.
Pre-selected Troopster packages start at around $16 and range to about $86. Prices vary on customized packages. To date, Mandello has shipped more than 1,000 care packages to service members in all military branches.
In addition to sending out purchased goods, Mandello also donates care packages to military members who don’t regularly get them. She works with chaplains and family readiness groups to find military members who rarely receive mail or have little family.
Last Christmas, Mandello sent 500 military members free care packages to brighten their holiday deployments.
“Troopster is a wonderful organization, and Chelsea is making a great difference with her programs in support of deployed service members,” Command Chaplain Diego Londono wrote in an email.
Londono helped Mandello coordinate care packages for sailors aboard the USS Carter Hall last Christmas. He is currently deployed with the USS Carter Hall and was unable to participate in a full interview with Southside Daily before publication.
This Christmas, Mandello is planning to send out 2,000 with the help of donations of time, money and care package items. She’s also asking community members to come to Topgolf, located at 5444 Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach, on November 18 to help stuff the packages for the troops.
Mandello, who has been in the Navy since 2011, said she plans to leave the service in nine months when her shore duty is over in Glen Allen. She wants to take Troopster from side-project status to full-time work.
When asked if she plans to keep Troopster a Hampton Roads business, she said likely yes.
“I think this is a great community, especially a military community, that really benefits from Troopster. I would love to have it grow here.”
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This article was published in partnership with WYDaily’s sister publication, Southside Daily.
