There is a website sponsored by Xerox that send cards made by kids to the troops. No charge. www.letssaythanks.com I've sent a few.Really nice, Jan:)
Since February 2007, Randolph-Macon Academy cadets have sent over 1,100 hand-written letters to members of the Armed Forces serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as letters directed to local members of the Armed Forces that are stationed in the U.S., either at home or in a hospital recovering from a war injury.
The majority of the letters have been sent using the website anysoldier.com. The letters are addressed to "Any Soldier"; upon receiving them, the commanders disperse the letters to troops who have not been getting much mail from home.
There are a few special soldiers the students have been sending letters and care packages to as well. The cousin of R-MA math teacher Cynthia Michael and the son of R-MA biology teacher Mitch Hubbard are both serving overseas. Michael's cousin, Chris, wrote a heart-felt reply back to the students (see below).
The campaign was spearheaded by R-MA Spanish instructor and community service coordinator Stephanie Portillo. Over the summer, Portillo received the Air Force Association's President's Award, a state-level recognition, for her efforts. The campaign has been run in conjunction with Air Force Association Chapter 435, which has provided hundreds of dollars of monetary support to cover associated costs of the project.
The program at R-MA started when AFA Chapter 435 received a request from a local support organization known as The River Rats (Executive Director Colonel John Hope) to support a severely wounded soldier from Front Royal. The Chapter passed the information to Portillo, who encouraged R-MA cadets to write as many letters as they could. She provided guidance through packets containing model letters, guidelines, and instructions.
The immediate goals for the project are to: (1) provide encouragement and support to our soldiers while expressing our gratitude, and (2) provide a medium through which students can express their appreciation and support, in addition to raising their awareness of what American soldiers must be going through and risking. The students have been told, "If we receive a response, that is just like extra icing on the cake, but our objectives are being accomplished just by having sent them and trusting that the soldiers are receiving them." Of course quite a few responses have been received, showing the tremendous value to our military personnel of this project.
The project continues to expand even now - seeking addresses to send additional letters to hospitalized injured soldiers and veterans, including those from any war, attempting to include letter writers from organizations in the local community (e.g., the Boy Scouts), and adding small items to the envelopes containing the letters (e.g., an individual powder pack of Kool-Aid/Lemonade).
This project received national recognition through the AFA in two ways: first, news about it was distributed to all regions of the Air Force Association by AFA Vice Chairman for Field Operations, Joe Sutter, in late 2007; second, it was recognized in the AFA Magazine dated January, 2008, page 73.
Editor's note: Navy Petty Officer Chris Kessler's letter in response to R-MA students appears below.
Hello from Petty Officer Kessler in Afghanistan! I apologize for this e-mail being so tardy in getting to you, but I don't have much access to the internet here and have been working about 80 hours a week since January so my time is limited. I hope this message finds you and the students doing well.
I wanted to let you know that I received your care package a week or so ago and that I really appreciated it. You have a great bunch of kids there who are doing phenomenal things by sending the letters to myself and others who are deployed over here, to show support for our efforts. I have gotten so many letters that it would take me months to write back to them all with my schedule so I thought I would send you an e-mail and maybe you would pass it on to them.
I have never met you, and yet somehow I feel as though I have made friends with you all while I have been here because of the time you have all taken to send letters in support of myself and my unit here. It is very likely that my brother, who is [on] active duty in the Navy, will be stationed at Norfolk Naval Station again in the next year or so. If he is, the next time I visit him there, I would love to come to your school and meet you as well as any of the students who are still there that have shown such tremendous support.
We are nearing the end of our year's deployment and I must tell you that I cannot wait to get home to my family and civilian life. I am married to the most wonderful woman and we have a son who just turned 19 months old. It is impossible for me to tell you how much I miss them and how hard it is to miss him becoming a toddler. Since I have been in Afghanistan, he has learned to walk and talk. His mother is French and speaks only French to him so he is learning to speak in English and French as well as a little Spanish from his babysitter, who is from Cuba. I went home on leave in June and was amazed by how much he has grown and changed since I headed overseas in December.
I really miss them, but I am so proud to be serving my country and hopefully keeping the kids in his generation from having to deal with the terrorism we have dealt with for so long, that every minute I am gone is worth it. It will be a sweet return to home when I can hug and kiss my wife and son again.
I hope you know just how proud you can be of your students and that they never have to worry about leaving their families and friends to fight in the Global War on Terrorism, but I am sure that if they do decide to pursue a military career once finished with school, they will all make you proud.
I must get back to work at this point, but I wanted to send a message to let you know how much I do appreciate all of your efforts and support. I plan to send you a special flag which I am going to fly here at work on 9/11 along with a certificate so you can display it in your classroom in the fall.
Thank you very much, and please feel free to write back when you have the opportunity!
Very Respectfully,
BM2 Christopher Kessler, USN
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/11/03/news/local_news/newsstory3.txt
...
Support for troops has held steady despite
the current economic climate, said Marty Horn, founder and president of
AnySoldier. com, a Web site that connects troops with people who want
to send packages and letters but may not know a specific soldier.
The
Department of Defense does not allow packages to be sent to “any
soldier.” Horn’s organization, based in LaPlata, asks for soldiers to
volunteer to be contacts and receive packages to distribute to people
within their unit. The volunteer contacts also let people know what
items the soldiers need or want.
Beyard said his unit received so many packages around the holidays they stacked about 7 feet high.
While there is a lot of support for troops prior to the holiday, Horn said it’s important to remember the troops year round.
“When
packages dry up, to get one letter from a supporter means more than 20
packages during the holidays,” said Horn, a former military police
officer.
...
rocckyd-
I called Xerox. THis is for real.
Good. I hate it when people are thinking that they are doing something good, only to find out later that wasn't the case. I know the whole "any soilder" issue came about last year when the kids wanted to send cards to Walter Reed. That ended up not being legit. Our "Natural Helpers" (kids who do community service in and out of school) are decorating huge posters to take to the VA Hospital this year. It is crazy-We live in a time where more and more care and support is needed, but rules and reglations make it hard to give it.Another reminder about the troops.
Thanks for keeping this on the board Jan. Who knows how a card sent will cheer the heart of one of our troops this Christmas. And seeing that two of our troops belong to me, I am extra grateful to anyone who sends a card. :)Linncn-