Passing Along some Thanks...

This note came in from the Chaplain of the Platoon where we are sending our cards. Just wanted to share:

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your tremendous kindness in sending us boxes of cards to use for our friends and families. As always, they are brimming with TLC, creativity, and uniqueness, such that, as they are used, they give the Soldiers a sense that they are really sending a treat to their loved ones. I have heard no reports, like last time, of Soldiers claiming to their girlfriends/spouses that they made them themselves (BTW: at least one that I know of got caught due to the ID stamps you were using -- funny stuff), but, if I were a betting man....

Anyway, please know that each box we recieve is a great boost to our morale as it both reminds us of your care for us, and gives us a very special way to express our love and appreciation to others.

Take care, and keep up the good work.

Again, thanks a million!

Blessings,

CH Kevin Banks
1-66 AR - Iron Knights

2009 Schedule is Posted

Just look over to your right in the sidebar!

I am finializing the last mailing for 2008 this weekend. Thank you all for another fantastic year of support to our troops!!!

Veteran's Day Cards

We have only received 184 Veteran's Day cards so far. Thank you to all who have sent cards but if anyone could possibly make some and get them to me by Wed of next week so I can turn around and get them out by Thursday I would really appreciate it. These soldiers really deserve to know how much we appreciate them!

Thanks in advance!

Another 551 Cards!

Thank you all for your generous contributions. As mentioned below if you are working on cards we really want to be able to give each of the soldiers a handwritten card for Veteran's Day so would you please consider making those next?

Also, just a reminder for all other cards except for Veteran's Day please send blank insides only. These cards are used for the soldiers to be able to write notes to their loved ones. Also there is no need to send envelopes unless the cards are not A2 sized. And please realize I don't say this because we are ungrateful because we are so appreciative to everyone that makes cards, but you have to realize I have to hand count the cards in order to know how many envelopes to send with them so it makes it very hard to figure out the counts with some cards having envelopes and some now. Thank you all for your understanding and thank you again for making Cards for Soldiers!

Cards for Veterans Day

In observance of Veterans Day, our goal is to send enough cards so that each and every soldier gets their own card of appreciation for their sacrifices.

We will need about 1,000 cards this year, each with your personal message written inside. As usual, NO envelopes required.

Please get your cards in the mail no later than October 1 so that we can get them to Iraq in time for Veterans Day!

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support of our efforts to let the Soldiers know how much we appreciate all that they do.

Here's the mailing address:
Cards for Soldiers
5 Spicebush Circle
Litchfield, NH 03052

Chris

401 Cards!

Are packaged up and will be on their way to the soldiers on Monday! Thank you all for your generosity again this round!

Gratitude Sign

I came upon this video today and thought I'd share it here with our Cards for Soldiers folks. I think this is an awesome way to thank our people in uniform. As I have said at other sites, it doesn't matter whether you support the Campaign in Iraq or not, it still means a LOT to appreciate those men and women who are putting their lives in harm's way! I think this Gratitude Sign is an awesome idea.

As Randi says, "Check it out, Dawg!"

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

Chris

NSD Challenge posted on my blog

Check out my blog

http://penny-candy.blogspot.com/

for a chance to win an awesome prize just for making some cards for the soldiers!

Contest runs until May 15.

Chris

National Scrapbook Day contest

I'll be posting a little NSD challenge on my blog on Saturday, May 3. Check it out. You can win an awesome prize and help out our Cards for Soldiers program at the same time!!

http://penny-candy.blogspot.com/

Father's Day Card

I thought I'd post a sample of some 80+ cards I just made for our Soldiers. I hope they'll enjoy sending this one home to their dads and granddads!
Chris from 123-Scrap

Thank You Cardmakers!

We have 600 cards ready to ship to Chaplain Banks in our first shipment for his redeployment! Thank you to everyone who has made this possible!

A note and pictures from our last card campaign

Dear Friends,


As we finish our deployment, I want to thank you again for your prayer and support. The cards you made and sent throughout the year provided a much needed way for our Soldiers to stay in touch with their families and loved ones. The men looked forward to each new

shipment. The last cards you sent for Veterans’ Day really hit home – so many were touched that you did this for them. So, on behalf of the 1-66 AR “Iron Knights,” thank you for all you have done. May God bless you and keep you.



Sincerely, CH (CPT) Kevin Banks

Thank You Girl Scout Troops 133 & 603

I wanted to share a letter I received with a recent shipment of cards:

Hello from Girl Scout Troops 133 & 603 in Romeoville, IL:

Our troop has submitted cards to Cards for Soldiers in the past, but we wanted to do something on a bigger scale - to get more people involved. So last month we set up a couple of tables at church and invited everyone in our parish to stop by after mass and make a card. I've enclosed a copy of our church bulletin.

We had a variety of of skill levels within our community, which you will notice when you look over the cards, but all were made with our soldiers in mind.

Usually stamping and scrapbooking is considered a "female" hobby. The neat part of our day was seeing how many men (veteran's themselves) stopped by to stamps a card for our troops.

So enclosed are a little over 400 cards to send to our troops! There are card for several different seasons or events and do not exactly match the schedule you have posted but we do not have enough money in the troop bank account to send them separately. It is our hope you will be able to make room for them unitl the particular holiday comes around.

Thanks for organizing such an awesome opportunity to show our support to the men and women who sacrifice so much for all of us!

I can't thank you all enough for such a meaningful shipment of cards. I makes me feel so good to know that there are so many people out there still supporting our troops and our "Cards for Soldiers" effort. Thank you to each and every person who made a card in Romeoville, IL!

Cards Reminder!

Chaplain Banks is leaving for 2nd tour in Iraq this coming Saturday, March 8th. Let's all keep him in our thoughts to get to his destination safely and return home again quickly! I am hoping as soon as I get a contact addy from him to send a big bunch of cards off right away so I hope everyone is busy making some cards! Remember this will be the first shipment so in addition to what is on the schedule for April 10th we also need generic cards such as Birthday, Get Well, Thank you, and even just general "Hello" cards.

Thank you all again for everything you do to make our Cards for Soldiers program such a huge success!

We have envies!!!

UPS just arrived with a very big box! 5000 envelopes from Best Selling Author JoAnn Ross! Thank you JoAnn and JAM Paper for sending them so quickly! JoAnn has been a long standing contributor of cards and when she found out we were in an envelope bind she came to our rescue! This is a huge help to our project because we were having a very hard time getting them donated. I understand the economy is in a crunch and all but these soldiers are fighting for our freedom! But if they give to our program they have to give to someone else, and it's a vicious cirle. I get it so I just wanted to shout out to JoAnn, her supplier, and of course her wonderful 'sweetie' as she calls him for all their help in our project! Without people like you all this project wouldn't be!

2008 Mailing Schedule and New Mailing Address!!!

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Cards for Soldiers program, and all who are interested in participating and showing support to our troops overseas! Currently the platoon we have been sending cards to is coming home! YAY!!! But at the same time Chaplain Banks (who we started the program for) is on his way back over for his second round of duty in March. So we will be starting shipments to him in April.

All cards should be A2 size (one half of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, folded in half), as we have envelopes donated for our Program. If you make a larger card please be sure to clip an envelope that fits with it. Please remember to leave the cards blank on the inside, with a self-stick note from you (or your child) to the soldier if desired.

General Occasion cards are ALWAYS welcome with any of the rounds below, including Birthday, Miss You, Thank You, etc. Seasonal themed cards are also always welcome (Summer, etc.)

The address is:

Cards for Soldiers
5 Spicebush Circle
Litchfield, NH 03052

The schedule for our Cards for Soldiers program for 2008 is:

ROUND 1: Cards should be received by April 10, 2008
Mother's Day
Armed Forces Day

ROUND 2: Cards should be received by May 9, 2008
Father's Day
4th of July/Indpendence Day

ROUND 3: Cards should be received by June 13, 2008
General occasion cards
Friendship Day (August 3)

ROUND 4: Cards should be received by July 25, 2008
Patriot Day
Grandparent's Day
Rosh Hashanah

ROUND 5: Cards should be received by September 5, 2008
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Yom Kippur

ROUND 6: Cards should be received by October 10, 2008
Veteran's Day (please write a note to a soldier in each card)

ROUND 7: Cards should be received by November 7, 2009 (NOTE: due to the timing of holidays, this deadline comes up fairly soon after the previous deadline, so just be aware it might sneak up on you!)
Christmas
Hanukkah
Kwanzaa
New Years

Lets get working on some cards so we can have a great year for Chaplain Banks and his platoon!