Cards for Soldiers

Valentine’s Day!

2012-01-08T18:43:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! It’s our first mailing of 2012 and we will have 2128 cards to send! Not too shabby! Thank you to all of you who sent Valentine’s Day cards! The soldiers will have lots of “Love” themed cards to send home this year. There were so many pretty ones I had a great time looking at them! There were some general themed cards as well and I thank you for those because we definitely need those each mailing too! I didn’t have as much card making time as I would have liked this time so I need to get started really soon on my St. Patrick’s Day cards because that deadline is just around the corner!

Once again I want to thank you all for the postage donations. And on that note I would like to ask you all to please pass the word on about the fact that I am an official 501c3 Non-Profit organization. Which means donations are tax deductible! If you know anyone that has a company that does matching donations, please ask them to consider donating to Cards for Soldiers in their company match program. Thank you!

Until next time,
Pam

Last Mailing of 2011 & Year’s Totals

2011-11-13T10:43:00.003-05:00

And it was a great one! 7100 Cards to be exact! And most of them were Christmas cards. There were 21 boxes in all and out of those only 3 were general cards. Thank you all for another very successful mailing! Thanks to all of those who also sent in postage donations with your card donations, once again, with a mailing this large it’s a huge help to me and my pocketbook!

I wanted to mention that once again I received many cards that were on dark cardstock but were not lined inside. I did not have the time to fix these cards this time around because I spent all my free time sorting cards (see number above ). Those cards went into a ‘to be fixed’ box and were not mailed this year. Cards on dark cardstock aren’t sent because you have to think about the fact that the soldiers aren’t going to have a white pen on hand and black or blue ink won’t show up so all of the dark cards need to be lined before I can send them. I have updated the card specs to make this a requirement so hopefully this will help remind you when making the cards.

Now I know that you all have heard the news about troops in Iraq coming home by the end of the year. I hope that doesn’t stop you from sending cards. I’ll tell you why, 1) most of the troops I send cards to are not in Iraq, they are in Afghanistan and 2) There are many soldiers who are reservists that are deployed all the time, even when we are not at war whom I plan on sending cards for as long as the cards keep coming in.

And now are you ready for the yearly total…

32669 cards mailed to the soldiers in 2011! Can you believe that number? Amazing! And all because of you! Thank you all for making CFS such as success!

Now, I need to work on my own Christmas cards before it’s time to start making Valentine’s Day cards!

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season!

Pam

Happy Veteran’s Day

2011-11-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

VETERAN'S DAY IS 11-11-11, REMEMBER WHY WE HAVE THIS DAY! THANK A SOLDIER WHO MADE IT HOME OR THE FAMILY OF ONE WHO DID NOT!!! REMEMBER TO THANK OUR CURRENT SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR WHAT THEY ENDURE ALSO!!!

2012 Schedule Posted!

2011-11-10T18:29:00.001-05:00

The new scheduled is posted over on the left! Thank you all for the very successful year of mailing in 2011. I will post the 2011 numbers tomorrow. If you have any questions regarding the 2012 schedule send me an email and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Veteran’s Day Update

2011-10-09T14:59:00.001-04:00

1270 Cards! That is our largest amount of cards mailed for this mailing EVER! I am ecstatic to be mailing this many cards this round. Thank you all so much!

I did receive about 150 cards that did not have handwritten notes inside them but instead were blank inside which I had to print out some notes for. Please remember for next year, Veteran’s Day and Armed Forces Day cards have personal notes inside the cards thanking the soldiers for their services.

Also, I do not require envelopes for these cards, I can fit more in a box if there is no envelope and since they are not using the cards to send back home we may as well save the envelopes for when we really need them right?

And now for the winners of the custom stamps from Imagine Stamps…

Darlene Crosby

and

Jan Mockaitis

Congrats ladies! I will contact Imagine Stamps and let them know you won the custom bar code stamp.

And last but not least, our final mailing of the year is going to come upon us quick. This deadline is November 7th and is for the Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years cards. The new 2012 schedule will be posted sometime in November as well.

Thank you all again for everything you do to make CFS a success!

Pam

September Update

2011-09-26T19:22:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I spent many hours sorting cards yesterday, we had 3500 of them!

Thank you all for doing such a great job with them this month!

Thank you to all who sent postage donations as well, as you all know how much this means to me. Please email me if you need a receipt or a tax id number.

Now don’t forget about the contest below, you have about a week left to get your Veteran’s Day cards in!

Thank you all again for your support, those of you that are new to the program and those of you that have been continued supporters for some time. Remember without you, I can’t do this!

Pam

A Contest (or two)!

2011-09-18T14:55:00.001-04:00

Rebecca at Imagine Stamps & More sent me some wonderful acrylic stamps. These handmade stamps are just perfect for personalizing your cards! Now before I tell you about the contest I’ll share an image with you of the stamps that Rebecca sent to me.

The first one is a CFS specific stamp. It is a flag that says “Made from the Heart” and “Cards for Soldiers”. I just love it! So perfect for the project cards don’t you think?

The second one is a personalized stamp with my name and three check boxes, which is so fun now I can use it on all sorts of my projects!

Don’t you love them? I bet you want one right? Well there are two ways to win one!

First chance:

Go to www.imaginestamps.com, in the left hand column select ‘subscribe to our mailing list’, follow the steps and you will be signed up for the contest.

5 winners will be selected on September 30, 2011.

Second Chance:

Send in at least 10 Veteran’s Day cards by the mailing deadline (October 10th). Remember these are Thank you cards for the soldiers so they are not blank inside, please write a personalized note of thanks inside each card. For every 10 cards you send your name will be entered to win one of two stamps that Rebecca is donating. Please be sure to include a note with your email in your cards so that I can contact you if you win.

I’ll select 2 winners after the Veteran’s Day mailing.

Easy peasy right? So what are you waiting for? Go on and head over to Imagine Stamps and then get to work on those cards!

Good Luck!

Pam

10 Years Ago Today

2011-09-11T09:30:00.001-04:00

Where you when the world stopped turning…

I was at work at Lucent Technologies and I can still see the look of horror and the tears streaming down my co-worker’s across from me face. She had just seen the Twin Towers hit on CNN.com. It was so scary, I wanted to leave right then and there to go get my boys and make sure they stayed safe, as did everyone that day. We were all drawn to the cafeteria where there was a TV streaming CNN to see what was going on and it was very hard to concentrate on work. We had no idea what to think. Ten years later I still don’t know what to think, so many lives lost, our country at war for almost 10 years.

And to think that this tragedy is what really got Cards for Soldiers started when you get right down to it. Carol’s husband felt he needed to serve his country, as friends we wanted to support Carol and Kevin while he deployed to Iraq and this idea is what we came up with. WOW.

September 11th has touched people in so many ways. I know that it’s touched each and every one of you who support this program and I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to take a moment out of your busy day to say a prayer for those we lost and those they left behind and to thank those that serve our country both in the military and our community to keep us safe!

God Bless the USA!

Pam

Awaiting a Hurricane

2011-08-28T08:26:00.001-04:00

As hurricane Irene looms near I am watching the news often to see where it is and how bad we will get hit, hoping that no water comes in the basement. Don't worry, I'm putting all the cards I've received up high! :)

It doesn't seem like it will be too bad here and we've got a generator so I'm planning on making some Veteran's Day cards today!

I hope anyone in Irene's path is staying safe and dry.

Veteran’s Day Fast Approaching

2011-08-21T06:12:00.001-04:00

The Veteran’s Day mailing is coming up soon! The deadline for cards is October 3rd. Are you making your cards yet? I hope so because we are mailing to 5 different troops so we need a lot of cards!

Remember my goal is to get 1 card into every soldier’s hand. I don’t know how many are at each place I send but I do know that one place I send to there are 300 in one group!

Please let’s show the best support we can by thanking those soldiers personally and sending them a nice note.

Pam

August Mailing Update

2011-08-21T06:08:00.001-04:00

It’s hard to believe it’s three quarters through August already and that summer is almost over! Living in New England the summers are definitely too short! I hope all of you have had some great summer vacations. I unfortunately did not get a vacation this year but I sure did enjoy the nice weather and know it will be gone too quickly and I’ll be complaining about cold and snow.

I sent out close to 2500 cards again this mailing! Thank you all! Each month there are so many boxes to open and so many of them have familiar names on the return addresses! You dedicated contributors are wonderful! I wish I could reward you for your support! And to each new person who has joined on board, you too, thank you for taking that first step to contribute! Without all of you I can’t keep doing this and I want to keep doing this for as long as I can so please keep up the great work!

Thank you to all of you who have donated to the postage fund again this month! Remember I’m a real non-profit organization now so you are making tax deductible donations!

Envelopes are needed badly, if you know someone who wants to help but really isn’t a card maker, ask them to send envelopes please! It still shows their support!

In Memory

2011-08-01T17:55:00.003-04:00

I got a very generous donation to the program that is going to help pay for postage for quite some time. That donation was made in memory of a very important person in my life over the last 29 years, my Father-in-law Joseph F. Bumbaca, Jr. aka Pop. He will be missed by many.

December 17, 1941 - July 7 , 2011

Sharing Some Letters

2011-07-09T07:25:00.001-04:00

A very dear and dedicated member of CFS got some mail from two soldiers she shared with me. They are very touching and I wanted to share them with you. She gets these often because she puts her address labels on the backs of her cards. They were written on cards she made.

So awesome! Thanks for sharing Jan!

June Update

2011-07-02T08:54:00.001-04:00

Another great mailing for June. 2500 cards were sent out this month! Thank you! Thank you to those that sent in postage donations.

A great big thank you to Envelopes.com as well for a donation of envelopes as they saved me big! I was out and they got them to me in time for the shipment! Thank you so much!

A continued supporter (thanks Linda!) to CFS has shared some links to where she gets some military themed supplies so I am sharing with all of you…

www.servicememories.com

www.creatingmilitarymemories.com

They will be a great resource for our Armed Forces and Veteran’s Day mailings!

A few reminders for the next mailing;

Blank handmade cards please – no store bought cards. A small greeting on the inside is OK but please make sure there is plenty of space for the soldier to write notes home inside.
Black and dark cards must be lined with light paper please
NO GLITTER unless you rub it really hard and not one flake comes off on your hand.
Due date is August 1!

Thanks again for your support! Remember I couldn’t do this without YOU!!!

Pam

May Update

2011-05-13T19:25:00.001-04:00

My visit to the post office brings 2600 cards over to the troops this month! You all have been very busy! I saw some very creative Father’s Day cards and some very patriotic 4th of July cards. There was a huge amount of general/thinking of you cards and not so many birthday cards this time around.

I also got an amazing amount of postage donations this month and was humbled beyond belief. Thank you all so much. For all of you that have been donating I have good news, I am officially a 501C3 Non-Profit Corporation in the State of New Hampshire! I have filed for my Tax ID number and have the paperwork to register with the Attorney General.

I will be out of town all next week for work so if any of you send emails and I don’t answer right away that is why. I’ll get back to you as soon as I return.

Remember, next round is all general cards.

Thank you all again for your continued support!

Pam

April Update

2011-04-09T06:38:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!

We’ve had two successful mailing’s since my last update. The first mailing was for Easter/Passover cards. In that mailing 2500 cards were sent out. Thank you all very much! Because of that support I am able to send at least one box with approximately 300 cards and envelopes to 6 different troops that are deployed and most times two boxes get sent each month!

The second mailing was for Mother’s Day and Armed Forces Day cards. The Armed Forces Day cards were not as many as I had hoped unfortunately, there were only about 300 of those so not every soldier got one. Add those total’s to the Mother’s Day mailing and that mailing total was about 1800 cards.

I have received a few thank you notes from the troops and need to scan them in and share them with you, unfortunately my main computer in the house has crashed and that is the computer that the scanner is hooked up to so I am on my laptop. I will share them as soon as I can.

I also need to remind you all that if you are making cards on black and dark papers please add white paper inside the card. I have had to hold back several cards for fixing due to this. I can’t send them like this. Try to remember when you make the cards that you can only use a light colored pen on the inside of those cards as they are now and if those soldiers don’t have access to cards at all do they have access to a white pen?

Again, thank you all for your support, I can’t do this without you. Also, I hope if you sent your email in your box of cards you have received a note back from me, I have tried to reply to everyone. If not I apologize! For those of you that have just sent a snail mail address, I am a terrible letter writer but I promise, I will get to it one day!

Our next mailing deadline is right around the corner if you can believe it! Father’s Day and Independence Day cards are due on May 8th. I seriously cannot believe it’s April 9th already, where does the time go?

Pam

Clarifying–Armed Forces Day Cards

2011-03-19T07:44:00.001-04:00

A good question came in – if you want to write a note inside the cards for the troops, not on a sticky note this is OK. We are changing things up a bit and sending a second set of ‘Thank You’ cards to them troops this year per a great idea from a few supporters this year.

Hope this clarifies things for everyone.

February Update

2011-02-25T10:02:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

Our February mailing turned out to be pretty successful. When I mentioned that I didn’t have many St. Patrick’s Day cards, you all came to the rescue and started making them and we were able to send out a bunch of them after all! I sent out 3500 cards this month. I’d say each box had a good 100 St Patty’s Day cards in each box.

I also got a 1000 envelopes donated from a very faithful card maker! Thank you so much Candy!

And to all of you who sent in postage donations, thank you again for your support! I hope to hear from the state on my non-profit paperwork soon and maybe you can officially start getting a real tax deduction!

I also got a note from Action Envelop that they have changed their name to Envelopes.com so please make a note if you have them saved to your favorites.

One of our next mailings will be for Mother’s Day and Armed Forces day cards. I have decided to switch this up a bit and make the Armed Forces day cards personalized. So please include a note to the soldiers in those cards like you do with the Veteran’s Day cards. I know it’s short notice but a few supporters have mentioned it and I think it’s a great idea so I wanted to start doing this. If you have already sent cards it’s not a problem because I am sure the soldiers have people they also want to send cards out to as well.

If you have any questions at all please feel free to shoot me an email!

Pam

Checking In

2011-01-30T09:49:00.001-05:00

Just a little update before the February 12th deadline. I have only received about 75 St. Patrick’s Day cards (50 of those I have made) out of 2000 cards. So if you haven’t made any cards and plan on sending some in I could really use some of those please! Thanks!

And thank you to those of you that have sent in cards so far. I’ve got a lot of Thinking of You, Birthday, Miss You, Just Because, and Friendship so far which means by the deadline we should be in great shape.

I also received some wonderful notes and I have to say thank you for those as well and if you have an email address please include it when you send a note so I can write you back! I am a terrible snail mail writer so if you want a note back an email is the best way to get one!

OK that’s it for now, I’ll be back in two weeks with another update!

Pam

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-04T20:11:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year All!

I must say our first shipment for the year has been a successful one! Here is what my scrapbook room looked like when a couple of friends came over to help me with this overwhelming pile:

And the results were 7200 cards to send to the troops! That’s 20 Large Flat Rate boxes full! Amazing huh? I know I say it over and over again but I just can’t thank you all enough! I will try to send out a personal note to each of you that enclosed your emails as well within the next few days, as you can see I’ve been a bit busy! I have to say thank you again to the Card Maker Magazine readers who are sending due to the Reader’s Reach Out article! Please keep them coming!

Also, thank you so much for the postage donations! They are greatly appreciated and with my shipping costs now having quadrupled much needed!

We need envelopes!!! I finally had to break down and order envelopes for the first time as we actually ran out! I found a great place to get them though so if anyone knows of someone who doesn’t make cards but wants to help they can always send an envelope donation! Action Envelope their web address is: www.Envelopes.com

and here are then envelopes we need:

http://www.envelopes.com/invitation/square-flap/a2-envelopes

Just a few reminders again:

Cards should be blank inside, a small stamped greeting is OK but there must be room for the soldiers to write handwritten notes.

Dark cards must have a white or light paper added inside. The soldiers don’t have access to light colored pens to write on that dark cardstock. Same for envelopes, please add a white label to them if you send a dark envelope.

NO GLITTER unless it’s Ranger Stickles or it’s covered with something that makes it not fall off if you rub it!

Handmade cards only please!

Thank you all again and enjoy the new year and what it brings!

Pam

A Nice Surprise

2010-11-12T07:47:00.001-05:00

On Monday I had the honor of speaking for the Molly Stark Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. One of their Regent’s had seen the article my local paper had done on Cards for Soldiers and she contacted me and asked me to come and tell their members a little bit about the program. I was a little nervous but Michael and Josh came with me for some moral support (Jake was on a school trip to NY City). I prepared a brief 10 minute speech and brought some sample cards and hoped for the best since I’m not the best public speaker. They made me feel right at home, as it was a very small group and in the childhood home of General John Stark a very personal space. At the end of my speech much to my surprise they presented me with a “Certificate of Award for Women in American History” as well as a check to help out with costs towards postage. I was so humbled and honored I could have cried. Here is a photo of me standing in front of a photo of the General with Phyllis Gagnon, the Vice Regent of the Chapter and woman who found me and invited me. (Photo by Mr. Gagnon) After my speech the women I spoke with were so kind, two of them came up and gave me donations as well. Another one showed me some beautiful cards she made from dried flowers and asked if we could use them, I told her absolutely! We then had refreshments and a tour of the historical boyhood home of the General. It was a great afternoon and I was nervous for nothing. So thank you so much to the women of the DAR for having me and for your generosity!

Pam

More Sorting Today

2010-11-05T17:38:00.001-04:00

My friend and I sorted through another 1400 cards today! That’s a total of 4400 Christmas cards. I have put all the birthday, thinking of you, thank you, etc aside to sort to send off next month since I have 14 Flat Rate boxes to send this month! That is HUGE!

Thank you all for your support! The cards, the envelopes, the postage money everything you do! And for your notes, you are all so wonderful!

Just a couple of things I need to ask…

If you are making a card out of dark cardstock, please line the card with white paper inside, the soldiers probably don’t have easy access to white pens and if the card is dark inside it’s useless to them.

A small stamped greeting inside is fine but please try to leave the inside blank, remember these are for the soldiers to use to send home to their loved ones.

No store bought cards please, this is for handmade cards only. If you have store bought cards you want to donate, the USO sends care packages to the troops all the time and they are a huge organization that has plenty of money to spring for the postage! ;)

Thanks again to all of you!

Pam

Today’s Mail

2010-11-01T18:19:00.001-04:00

Just thought I’d share with you a photo of what was waiting for me when I got home today, this is all Cards for Soldiers mail!!!

Thanks to all!

Pam

WOW! Thank You CardMaker Magazine & Faithful Followers of CFS!!

2010-10-31T09:20:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe that one half page article in a magazine I’d never seen before can have such a huge response! Back in June I was contacted by CardMaker Magazine asking if they could post about Cards for Soldiers in their Reader’s Reach Out portion of the magazine. I had no idea what the article would look like, I just provided some general information on the program itself. Well I started getting packages in the mail at the beginning of this month with notes about how they read the “Reader’s Reach Out” article so I of course ran to B&N to get the magazine. The article was very accurate (the only thing that has changed is the envelope donations (but that’s another blog posting!) and I enjoyed reading it as well as the rest of the magazine (as a matter of fact I have found myself another subscription!).

The packages have been pouring in! I mean our mailperson has been leaving those big white boxes that they use to deliver mail on my porch! It’s been wonderful. And we haven’t even reached our deadline and we have are you ready for this…

3000 Christmas cards!!!

I haven’t even counted all the birthday, thinking of you, etc cards yet! If you look back at past months I send on average 1500-2000 at most. This is just amazing!

And for the faithful followers of this blog that send me packages each and every month, thank you again, for everything! Your kind notes, emails and your support in my project. I can’t do this without you all! Thank you so much for all the envelopes, the postage money help and your amazing cards! You all are just the best and I have enjoyed getting to know some of you via our email chats!

I have to give a big shout out to my friend Patty, we try to get together every month to make cards. Yesterday she came over and did the hard stuff with me of sorting! And believe me this was the biggest sorting I’ve ever had. So thank you Patty for all your help!

And watch for my next post because I’ve got a great soldier story to share!

October 11, 2011

2010-10-11T10:49:00.003-04:00

As of today I only have 250 Veteran's Day cards to send over to the soldiers. 100 of which I have made. I am hoping before the end of the week I get a bunch more in. We have had such an abundance of cards coming in this year so I know we can do better than this to show our support. Won't you all please make a thank you card for our soldiers? Take the time to write them a note? My hopes is to get as many cards to as many soldiers as we can! Please!

Thank you!

September Update

2010-09-18T17:22:00.001-04:00

Can you all believe it’s September already? I for one can not! Fall is just around the corner and as I sat and sorted cards for several cards for the Halloween/Thanksgiving mailing I thought even harder about why we are doing this program. Today as I finished the sorting and counting I came up with a number of 2500 cards! I was astounded by your support and generosity once again. So many of you sent envelopes this time, THANK YOU! I am still having a hard time getting donors so this is huge to me! I too am so thankful for the postage help too! You all are amazingly kind! I have to say please to those of you that apologize for not sending postage, please do not apologize, your support with the cards is so much more important! I have very limited time to make cards, I only got 25 made this time so as you can see that is 1% of that we have to send! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for each and every bit you do!

For those that are new to the program and have any questions, all of our requirements, mailing schedule, and mailing address are always right on the right hand column of this blog.

And before I close, I just have one more important reminder, this program is specifically for BLANK HANDMADE CARDS. They can have a small greeting stamped inside but no writing on the inside of the cards, they are for the soldiers to use to send back home. This program is not to send cards for the soldiers to read, I am getting a lot of those lately, and unfortunately, I can’t afford to send those. If you have cards like that please donate them to the USO as they send care packages to the troops all the time.

Don’t forget, for our very next mailing we have our Veteran’s Day mailing which where we make a card for the soldiers with a note in the card for them to keep! General cards will be accepted during this mailing as well.

Pam

A Contest

2010-08-25T04:32:00.006-04:00

I received some information from a Gulf War Veteran about a contest a company named AirSoft is holding. Now some of you may have never heard of this company but if you have sons like I do you might have! Anyway there is a prize in it for you as well as Cards for Soldiers if you enter the contest through this blog so here is the info:

The winner will receive a full Airsoft loadout including a helmet, goggles, vest, combat suit, gloves, pistol, holster, rifle, and more. With a full loadout, the winner will have everything that they need and more to head down to their local Airsoft field and start playing. The loadout is worth $500, and no purchase is necessary.

You can check it out at http://www.airsplat.com/Categories/ERS.htm?param=yes

In addition, Airsplat will donate $1,000 to the website that refers the winner. So the more of your readers that click on this link and then sign up for the contest, the better chance Cards for Soldiers will have of winning the $1,000 donation. Just think of how many envelopes that will buy!!!

So what are you waiting for it should only take a few minutes to enter to win right?

Contest Link Code*: Win a KWA Airsoft rifle and full Airsoft loadout worth $500 from Airsplat

August Mailing

2010-08-13T06:58:00.001-04:00

I wanted to let you all know that I sent out 2500 cards this mailing! I mailed out 8 boxes of cards and envelopes. Amazing effort this round. Thank you all! Thank you to those that are putting in postage money as well because with a $95 tab this month it was a HUGE help!

Bad news, we are officially out of envelops. I am going to have to purchase them for the September mailing so if anyone cares to send envelopes with their cards this time I'd appreciate it as I'm having a heck of a time getting some donated.

I plan on working on some Halloween and Thanksgiving cards today as it's my day off and I got some great Halloween papers at the LSS last time I was there! The next mailing is right around the corner if you can believe September is almost here! Where did the summer go?

Thank you all again and keep those cards coming, they are so appreciated as you can see from the letter below!

Pam

Sharing a Letter Received

2010-07-23T18:53:00.001-04:00

Here is a letter I received from one of the places where the cards are being sent…

You should be able to click on it to enlarge enough to read it.

Pam

Updates

2010-07-17T08:06:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I am sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve updated. Life has gotten in the way of blogging! Even my personal blog has taken a backseat to life lately! :)

Just wanted to pop in and say thank you to you all for all the continued support! Between June and July we will have sent 2000 cards to 6 different mailing addresses in Iraq and Afghanistan! Yes we have gone from 3 to 6 troops we are supporting so keep those cards coming! Now that I am working on an AFB and word has gotten out of what we are doing people are actually contacting me to send them cards! How can I say no? So some packages may not have as many but at least they are all getting some right? Right!

And I have to add a huge thank you to all of you that are sending a little extra postage money! You all don’t know how much this means to my husband and I! Every little bit that you send really helps out my budget because 12 boxes at $11.95 a piece per month adds up, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!

One more favor to ask, if any of you out there know of a good contact for envelope donations I would love it if you could drop me a note at cardsforsoldiers@gmail.com and let me know. I’m having a very hard time getting them and will have to start purchasing those myself soon as well.

Thank you all for your continued support! I get so many letters of thanks for what I am doing, and yes, I sort the cards and pack them up and send them out but if it weren’t for you all sending them to me, I’d have nothing to sent but the ones I make with my friend every mailing so THANK YOU!

Pam

Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-31T08:13:00.001-04:00

Thank you to all of those that serve our beautiful country past and present…

Weekend Crop

2010-05-03T04:34:00.002-04:00

I went to a weekend long scrapbooking crop up in the White Mountains this weekend and had a little challenge. I told the 42 women there about our program for Cards for Soldiers and told them for every card they brought me for the soldiers I would put their name in a drawing for a bag full of scrapping goodies. At the end of the weekend we had 108 cards for me to take home! One woman named Gail was very happy to take the cards home! And on a much happier note she told us a story of a little 3 and 4 year old girl and boy who had receive some home made cards in their Easter baskets this year from their Daddy who was deployed. It was a story that made me tear up more than a little!

Here is a photo of all the cards:

And when I got home I started my job of unpacking and then sorting the cards for the Father’s Day mailing and I have to say I have my work cut out for me! Thank you again! I will be sorting and counting for some time this month! You have outdone yourselves again and I appreciate your hard work! I’ll be back in a few days with a final count!

Pam

WOW!

2010-03-28T18:02:00.002-04:00

I just spent the last 5 hours sorting cards and we have 1657 cards to send this month! I can’t thank you all enough for your support! I’ve also received a lot of postage money this time around as well which with 7 boxes to send I have to say is a huge help on my pocketbook! Thank you all! I have really enjoyed reading your notes too and learning about you all!

Thank you all again for your support and remember without you we would not be able to do this!

V-Day cards, in the mail

2010-01-14T16:27:00.002-05:00

Hi folks!
Just a quick update from me. I mailed a package today containing 184 cards, just from me. I made over 100 V-Day/love cards, some B-Day cards, and some all-occasion cards for a new unit we are supporting. Pam has also shipped to two other units, for a total of three units we are now supporting. Please spread the word! The requests for these cards is increasing, and we can use AS MANY cards as you can send. Please check the guidelines for cards:

- handmade only (you can use pre-made notecards - I got packs of 8 for $1 at Target - as long as you add embellishments to make them handmade. I added scalloped paper, ribbon trim and a stamped greeting to the front of each card, cute!),
- blank inside - the service men/women use these cards to send back home
- A2 size, or include an envelope for each card if they are not the standard A2 size

Check the side bar for the schedule and mailing themes. Remember, we ALWAYS accept general occasion cards.

Our troops love the pick-me-up of a handmade card to send back home, and the families/loved ones love receiving these cards from them. We can't do this without you, the cardmakers. Tell all your friends, have a card-making evening or rainy Sunday afternoon card-making party. There is no minimum or maximum limit - send whatever you can. Make 'em nice, so the troops will be proud to send them back home!

Thanks for your support! We pay for the mailing out of our personal pockets, so if you want to toss in a dollar or two for postage, it will be appreciated by everyone!!

Chris

Giving Thanks!

2009-11-26T07:35:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-22T06:42:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-11-17T04:39:00.002-05:00

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

Cards Update

2009-11-14T08:58:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-11-08T09:17:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-23T06:45:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-17T12:12:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-18T17:40:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-10T22:42:00.001-04:00

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!!!

2009-09-10T19:47:00.001-04:00

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...

2008-11-18T05:04:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-08T10:54:00.001-05:00

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

2008-10-11T07:37:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-09-14T15:22:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-14T14:49:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-05-17T08:58:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-09T17:44:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-03T14:06:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-29T13:04:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-19T21:41:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-04-12T13:01:00.002-04:00

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

2008-03-20T09:40:00.004-04:00

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

2008-03-19T14:28:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-03-06T13:30:00.003-05:00

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!!!

2008-01-23T12:32:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2008-01-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

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!

Card Count Update

2007-07-05T17:01:00.000-04:00

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has sent in cards for the troops! I'm realizing I haven't posted the numbers for a couple of rounds, so here is an update.

In May we sent 815 cards, and in June we sent 1300. These numbers are down a bit from before, but the trend seems to be on the upswing again.

Thanks again to everyone who has participated. The troops currently in Iraq are facing a long deployment: when they went over, they were looking at 12 months, but in the meantime have been extended to 15 months. All Army troops headed over in the forseeable future have been told to expect at least a 15 month deployment. These men and women can use all the encouragement possible, so please keep the cards coming.

Please remember it makes our lives easier if you group cards according to theme, and label with the type of card and number of cards in each grouping. Thanks!

WOW, Another Great Round!!

2007-06-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

We have had lots of cards pour in for this round, and I'm busy counting and packaging to send them on their way to the "big sand box". A huge thank you to everyone who has sent in cards. There are lots of Anniversary, Birthday, Thinking of You and many other occasions that will be extremely welcome by our troops!

A big thank you to those of you who are grouping your cards. It is a tremendous help to us when you group similar cards together (for example, all "thank you" cards, etc) and put a rubber band around them, with a note or sticky tab labeling them and telling how many there are. Even better is grouping them into zip lock bags, as many of you are doing. Thanks for making our job easier!

It's time to start thinking of the next round, as well. We're looking ahead to Rosh Hashanah and Grandparent's Day. In addition, for many of the troops currently serving, 9/11 was one of the big factors that prompted them to join the military. I know it was a huge factor for my husband. As Patriot Day approaches, let's inundate the troops with patriotic cards. "We Will Not Forget" is a good theme for these. Or how about "Thanks For Standing By Me" for a soldier to send to his or her sweetheart?

Thanks again for supporting our troops and their families! I know these cards provide a boost to morale and a great way for them to keep in touch with their loved ones back home.

2007 Cards for Soldiers Schedule

2007-04-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new C4S blog! We hope this will be a way for you to keep track of the activities of the Cards for Soldiers program, as well as a great way to tell your friends! Please link to us and spread the word!

Cards for Soldiers started with the Faculty and members of 123-Scrap. Come hang out with us, participate in a challenge or two, and gain boatloads of inspiration.

A great big thank you to everyone who has participated in sending handmade cards to the troops, and all who are interested in participating and showing support to our troops overseas. It truly does mean a lot to them to receive our handmade cards, and it means the world to their family to receive these cards from their soldier.

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. 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. (NOTE: If you are interested in donating envelopes, please e-mail cardsforsoldiers@gmail.com and let us know.)

General Occasion cards are ALWAYS welcome, including Birthday, Miss You, Thank You, etc. Seasonal themed cards are also always welcome (Summer, etc.)

The address is:
Cards for Soldiers
PO Box 802
Killeen, Texas 76540-0802

The schedule for our Cards for Soldiers program for the remainder of 2007 is:

ROUND 3: Cards should be received by April 15, 2007 (note: this deadline has been extended from the original date)
Mother's Day
Armed Forces Day

ROUND 4: Cards should be received by May 6, 2007
Father's Day
4th of July/Indpendence Day

ROUND 5: Cards should be received by June 15, 2007
General occasion cards

ROUND 6: Cards should be received by July 31, 2007
Patriot Day
Grandparent's Day
Rosh Hashanah

ROUND 7: Cards should be received by September 19, 2007
Halloween
Thanksgiving

ROUND 8: Cards should be received by October 14, 2007
Veteran's Day (please write a note to a soldier in each card)

ROUND 9: Cards should be received by November 6, 2007 (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