Cards for Soldiers

Giving Thanks!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I am thankful for so many things in my life and I am not going to list them all here but I do have two very important ones that I will post here…

I want to give thanks to all of you card makers out there for keeping this program going strong for the last few years. Without you all it can not survive! I am very thankful to each and everyone of you that I receive a package for!

I give my heartfelt thanks to each and every man and woman in the armed services who protect and serve for our country every day. Thank you for all you do. For those that are deployed I pray that you stay safe and come home to your families very soon! For those soon to be deployed my thoughts and prayers go with you as well!

Pam

More to Share

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:42:00 +0000

I received another wonderful note from a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who is deployed and using our cards and wanted you all to be able to see what your generosity mean. I’ll put her words in a different color so you know when it’s me again!

Just wanted to say thanks SO much for the beautiful cards and sentiments. I'm an avid letter writer and enjoy making, writing and sending cards across the world. I've probably taken the most cards and used every one of them!! Thanks again. Your passion and care for us over here means a lot and makes a HUGE difference. I appreciate you!

Julie
JULIANA M. ASTRACHAN, Lt Col, USAF
Deputy Division Chief, ANP Personnel
CSTC-A, CJ-1 (Kabul, Afghanistan)

I also had to opportunity to volunteer yesterday for a USO event. My husband, 14 yo son, and I helped stuff 10,389 care packages for the troops. It was a very upbeat and fulfilling event. There were all 4 units of the armed forces represented there as well as people from all over New England who came to help. I was told the USO puts on events like this all over the country so if you can ever get involved in something like this I highly recommend it as it although it was a lot of work it didn’t seem like it at all!

Have a great week!

Pam

A Letter of Thanks!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:39:00 +0000

Received this in the mail yesterday and wanted to share with everyone that makes it possible!

Cards Update

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:58:00 +0000

I just mailed 750 Christmas cards to the troops! Our last mailing for 2009! Thank you everyone so much!

I just need to give you all a few reminders:

Please send handmade cards only, no store bought cards. While we appreciate that you want to help this is a very small outfit where I am shipping these cards myself and when I receive a huge box of store bought cards I just can't pay to ship those over to Iraq. Please know that I did donate them to a good cause.

Please make sure the cards are BLANK inside. They are not meant for the soldiers to receive, these cards are to be used for the soldiers to send back home to their loved ones since they don't have the means to purchase cards in the desert. If you want to post a note to them you can put it on a sticky note inside the card.

Cards must be A2 sized which is 5.5 x 4.25 (which is an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper cut in half and then folded in half) unless you plan on sending an envelope that fits your card. I don't have envelopes that fit any other sized cards.

Thank you again for all your support!

Cards! Cards! Cards!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:17:00 +0000

I just want to say thank you! My mailbox has been overflowing with cards every day! Thank you everyone! I can’t tell you how excited I am to come home and see a package every day addressed to Cards for Soldiers. I am going to be busy sorting today and hopefully mailing our last 2009 mailing this week! Here’s looking forward to a successful 2010!!!

Oh and I have to say a very SPECIAL Thank You to our anonymous Envelope donor. You know who you are and your generosity was just overwhelming and so very appreciated!

Sample Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:45:00 +0000

We have gotten a lot of questions about what the cards should look like lately so I thought I’d just post a few samples. These are by no means what you have to send just a few we have received in the past. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

2010 Mailing Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:12:00 +0000

For those of you that have emailed asking about the new mailing schedule here it is. I will also post this on the sidebar as soon as the 2009 mailing dates have passed so it’s there for easy access.

ROUND 1: Cards should be received by January 3, 2010
Valentines Day/Love theme
St. Patrick's Day
Purim

ROUND 2: Cards should be received by Mar. 1, 2010
Passover
Easter

ROUND 3: Cards should be received by March 28, 2010
Mother's Day
Armed Forces Day

ROUND 4: Cards should be received by May 9, 2010
Father's Day
4th of July/Indpendence Day

ROUND 5: Cards should be received by June 11, 2010
General occasion cards

ROUND 6: Cards should be received by July 30, 2010
Patriot Day
Grandparent's Day
Rosh Hashanah

ROUND 7: Cards should be received by September 19, 2010
Halloween
Thanksgiving

ROUND 8: Cards should be received by October 14, 2010
Veteran's Day (please write a note to a soldier in each card)

ROUND 9: Cards should be received by November 5, 2010
(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

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Cards for Soldiers program throughout the last three years, and all who are interested in participating and showing support to our troops overseas! We are looking forward to our 4th successful year!

A Note of Thanks

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Since I am now working on an Air Force Base I have plenty of places to send our handmade cards. Over the summer I brought in a huge batch to my office for our Facility Manager to ship off with some care packages and he sent me back a note that they had been sent and I was happy. What I did not expect was a note of thanks from where they were sent to. I thought I'd share the note I received in my inbox when I got to work one day:

“My name is Sergeant First Class Thomas Mitchem. I am the senior chaplain assistant on Camp Eggers in Kabul Afghanistan.

We received the box of home-made greeting cards. Normally we receive so many gift boxes from so many thoughtful Americans that it is hard to send individual email or letters of thank you to each one. Many of the boxes we receive are forwarded to smaller more isolated posts. However your gift of cards we set up outside our office where there is a lot of heavy foot traffic. It was my intent to send you a picture of the display we had created.

Ever hear of the phrase, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions?" The majority of the cards didn't last a week in the display.

What I'm trying to tell you is that the people here very much appreciated the gift of you and your friends. Our small PX does not have a selection of cards so those cards that you made were a wonderful welcomed gift. Be assured that those cards are being mailed all over God's great green Earth.

On behalf of the men and women of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines I'd like to thank you and your friends for your thoughtful gift.

Sincerely,
THOMAS MITCHEM
SFC, USA
CSTC-A Senior Chaplain Assistant”

So thank you all for all you do, it really does make a huge difference.

~Pam

No Glitter, please

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:42:00 +0000

If you're planning to make cards, please leave out the glitter. When our soldiers get glitter on them, it shows up on night vision, and they become glowing targets to the enemy. I know it makes the cards look nice, but we do want all our soldiers to come home safe and sound. So, please leave the glitter at home. TIA!!!

Cards Needed!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:47:00 +0000

I've now got two different contacts to send cards to over in Afghanistan! I need to start sending cards immediately! Please see card schedule to the right.

Remember Veteran's Day Cards are not blank, you will write a thank you note to the soldiers. I am hoping to get loads of them so that we can get one to as many soldier's as possible!

Thank you again for your support!!!

Passing Along some Thanks...

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:04:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:54:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:37:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:22:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:49:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:58:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:44:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:06:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:04:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:41:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:01:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:40:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:28:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:30:00 +0000

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!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:32:00 +0000

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!