CARDSFORHEROES.ORG

Frequently Asked Questions

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If you have any questions that aren't covered here, please email them to info@cardsforheroes.org.


About the cards:

What kind of cards do troops prefer?
We're told that general cards are in greatest demand since they are not time-sensitive:
  1. miss you
  2. love (spouse, significant other, family)
  3. birthday
  4. thinking of you, hello, wishing you well, etc.
  5. thank you
Any level of crafting, styles, or themes are welcome, too: vintage, simple, stamped, paper-pieced, kid-focused, romance. Embellished, "lumpy" cards are fine - letter mail is free for our heroes to send home.

What kind of cards should I avoid sending?
Please do not send suggestive or risqué cards; we do not wish to offend any of our service members. Funny cards are okay, but keep them positive and upbeat.
Do not use glitter that will flake off the card; it can make a mess on a uniform and make a hero visible to night-vision goggles.
Also, think about what they'd write home for - for example, we do send a few get well cards, but often by the time they receive news that someone is ill and then send a card home, that kind of message may no longer be relevant. A few wedding and new baby cards are okay to send as well, but not all units will have a need for these at the time they are sent. The general kinds of sentiments can apply to any circumstance that a serviceperson would like to write home for.

What holiday cards do you need?
We welcome cards for specific holidays - though please be aware it may take weeks to get to remote bases, and more weeks for mail to get back home. Cut-off dates are about a 6 weeks prior to a holiday for that reason. Major holidays we focus on:
  1. Valentine's Day
  2. Easter
  3. Mother's Day
  4. Father's Day
  5. Independence Day
  6. Halloween
  7. Thanksgiving
  8. Christmas (longer lead time due to heavy mail traffic)
Cards for smaller holidays are sent, too, (Rosh Hashana, Hanukkah, Grandparent's Day, etc) but we focus on the major card-sending holidays.

What size should my cards be?
Any size cards are welcome, but most cards sent in are 4.25" x 5.5"; this size allows two cards to be made from one piece of letter-sized cardstock. Larger cards are permitted; letter mail is free for the troops to mail, so larger-format cards do not cost extra for them to send.

Can I use dark cardstock?
Yes, but please attach a liner inside (lighter colored paper). Our troops may only have a bic pen or a pencil to write with, so please give them space and surface to write on.

Can I make a lot of one design?
Absolutely. Your cards will be mixed with others' cards, so we are able to provide our deployed contacts with a great variety of designs.

Can I sign my name on the back of my cards?
Yes! Name and/or city, stamped or hand-written, any way you would like to do it. Please also write CARDSFORHEROES.ORG somewhere on the back if you can (not required!); we'd like to hear back from our heroes and their families at home, so hopefully sharing the web address will connect us with them.

Can I have a stamp made for the back of my cards?
Sure! You may have a custom stamp made with your name and the CARDSFORHEROES.ORG web address on it; Imagine Stamps offers acrylic stamps customized with your name at a reasonable cost.

Can my cards be heavily embellished?
This question usually refers to those with "lumpy" embellishments that can require extra postage. This is not a problem for our servicemen and servicewomen since cards are mailed for free for them.

Do I need to send envelopes?
Generally, yes, however, CARDSFORHEROES.ORG has received generous donations of thousands of envelopes of all sizes. Check the Homefront Blog on Mondays for the current status of the need for envelopes, or email the shipper you'll be sending to. (If you would like to send envelopes anyway, that makes our donations last longer, but feel free to save yourself some shipping costs!)

Are store-bought/printed cards accepted?
Yes, they are accepted as well. Our boxes mix handmade with store-bought, and clearly the handmade are the focus of this project, but you're welcome to send store-bought as well.

Do you want patriotic cards too?
Yes! These are given for our patriotic heroes to write home on, or for our AnyHero letters - thank you messages written inside them for our contacts to share with those who get little mail. Any theme card can be created with a patriotic theme, too (birthday, miss you, etc.).

Can I send in cards/letters written to our heroes?
Yes! "AnyHero cards" are notes of gratitude inside the card shipments; please do not seal the envelopes that you put those notes into so they can be reviewed. You may sign them including your name and town, and if you wish them to have the option of contacting you, your address or email address. These are sent to soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors, etc., so please address your card using a generic salutation (Dear hero, Hello, etc, or no salutation at all).

Can my kids participate?
Yes!! Please have your children make cards, draw pictures, and write messages inside for our heroes -they love to get letters from kids!! Please guide your children as they create; inappropriate content would be drawings of guns/battles, deceased persons, scary hospital drawings, etc. Uplifting thank you messages are best! Please put the child's first name and age on the drawing or card, and send them to our same shipping addresses.


About one of our partners, Operation: Quiet Comfort:

Who does OQC send their packages and cards to?
Operation: Quiet Comfort sends care packages to heroes injured in war; they are generally in combat support hospitals, fresh from their trauma. These men and women are given various comfort items, and a package of 5 cards with thank-you and get-well messages from Americans is included in each care package.

What kind of cards does OQC need?
Thank you and get well cards, lots of them! Blanks or signed cards are accepted. You can sign them all yourself, with identical or different messages, or have others in your family or community assist. OQC cards do not need envelopes, they must be 4.25" x 5.5", and include no glitter, feathers, or loosely attached embellishments. Send them to this address at any time:

  • Diane Schneider
  • 6305 Cape Charles Dr.
  • Raleigh, NC 27617

About shipping:

What are the deadlines, especially for holiday cards?
Visit the Homefront Blog to get news about current plans for shipping dates, and what kinds of holidays we'll be working toward at any given time. You may send in holiday-specifics at any time though; they will be stored until it is time to mail those out.

Should I pack my cards in any special way?
Any card shipments packed in any way are welcome, but since you asked . . .
  1. Insert the back of the card inside the envelope (only if you send envelopes) so that the front hangs out; that will save some time on our end. This keeps the card together with its matching envelope, and that's how we pack them for the troops.
  2. 2. We may remove any special packaging you provide (individual baggies or sleeves, etc.); our heroes are in remote areas where extra plastic is challenging for disposal.
  3. You may sort by type of card if you desire, but it is not required.

What sorting categories do you use?
Cards are sorted into general categories, then on "packing day" each bag gets a broad selection from each type:
  1. seasonal (when appropriate)
  2. general (thinking of you, hello, no sentiment, etc.)
  3. birthday
  4. child-focused
  5. love/wedding/missing you


About the heroes:

How do you choose the heroes who get these cards?
We receive contacts from AnySoldier.com, either by notification by that site, or by searching the list for who has had the fewest shipments sent or who has requested cards. We send ongoing shipments to units who reply that they loved the cards and would like more.

Does it cost the troops to send mail home?
Letter mail is free for them! Packages cost them as they do here. Military addresses are considered domestic mail, so at least they don't pay international rates for packages.

Can I have cards sent to my deployed loved one?
Yes! Please send an email to info@cardsforheroes.org, and confirm the following information:
  1. name/rank of the hero, and your relation to them
  2. their address
  3. length of time expected at that address
  4. approximate number of troops in their unit
  5. male/female breakdown if possible).
Feel free to sponsor this shipment by making a donation through Paypal to donate@cardsforheroes.org (not required). We may not be able to accommodate all requests, so please do not make promises that we'll be sending cards unless you get a confirmation email that a box has been shipped to them.

Will I hear back from any heroes who receive my AnyHero cards or letters?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no . . . they are busy doing their work, and often do not have time to write back to a snail mail or email address you put into your signed card.


About donations:

Can I send a financial donation to go toward shipping costs?
Yes you may! This is all out-of-pocket for us right now. You can PayPal a gift to donate@cardsforheroes.org, or send a check or cash donation along with your cards to a shipper. (Make checks payable to the shipper for the time being until we get farther in our nonprofit paperwork.)

Can I contribute card-making or shipping supplies?
Absolutely! Please email info@cardsforheroes.org to find out who's in need of supplies at the time you're ready to send them. The types of things that have been sent are paper, embellishments, ribbon, stamped images, rolls of ATG adhesive and tape runner refills, envelopes, packing tape.

Is my contribution tax-deductible?
Unfortunately not 'officially' at this time. The IRS has said once we get to a particular phase in our paperwork that will change; we are keeping diligent records of all donations though, so receipts will be sent out as soon as we're able to officially do that.


If you have any questions that aren't covered here, please email them to info@cardsforheroes.org.

CARDSFORHEROES.ORG