Checking In

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!

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

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

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

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!!

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

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!