A Note of Thanks

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

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!!!

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...

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!