the hero blog

First email dated May 17, from Ohio cardmaker Deloris; be sure to read letter #2 as well!

I was looking through the Any Soldier.com website and found a National Guard unit from Ohio that is asking for stationary and envelopes to write home so I thought they would could use some cards. Can you add them to your mailing list for cards? From the count it appears the address has only been requested 8 times so they are not getting as much of a response as some of the other posts.

Since I am from Ohio, I thought I would try to help them with some care packages. I will be sending them snacks, books and a few other things from their wish list.

Thanks and have a great weekend!
Deloris

We sent a box of cards to this Army National Guard unit in May, and received this letter bak from him:

I would like to thank you and everyone at Cards for Heroes for the beautiful cards you sent. Now, my platoon has a array of cards for every occasion. Until now, we had limited supply at our PX which would sell out on holidays.

Today we got this email from Deloris:

Thought I would share my CFH story. Last week I mailed a box of books, puzzles, candy and laundry supplies to this National Guard unit from Ohio that you had sent the cards to last month. Today in the mail I got the nicest thank you card from this SGT. He said he was thrilled to get a care package and to know that some one back home was thinking of them. Said it really made his day.

I showed the thank you card to my husband and noticed on the back it was stamped with Cards for Heroes. Made my day too! :0)

How amazing is that chain of mail? This is one great reason we try to either stamp or write Cards for Heroes.org on the backs of all cards whenever possible.

If you would also like to mail packages to our heroes, or even just write them a letter — it’s EASY! And they love to hear from home.

Go to the AnySoldier.com website, browse around, and have some kleenex handy if your heart gets tugged easily! Please read the terms on the site to be certain you are not sending items not permitted - obvious things like weapons and non-obvious things like homecooked food. This blog post does not purport to contain all current restrictions and guidelines, just to give you an idea how easy it is.

1. Choose a hero from the “Where to Send” page. You can search by item you’d like to give, state the unit is from, branch of service, number of times their unit has been requested, all sorts of things.
2. Request their address using the link on the hero’s page. DO NOT REQUEST IT IF YOU ARE NOT MAILING TO THEM RIGHT AWAY, please. You can look at their list and go shopping, but check in just before mailing so you get the most current address. You may choose two addresses per day only.
3. Mail your package! APO and FPO military addresses are considered domestic, so you’re not paying extra for international shipping. You’ll need to fill out the large quadriplicate customs form at the P.O, but it’s not as hard as you think.
4. Be sure to include a personal “Dear hero” letter - or a dozen! These contacts will share them with those who get little mail. We’ve heard back from a number of heroes who are not on our list of box recipients—but they got a card from an American and were so touched they wrote back. (No guarantees they’ll write back however - they’re busy!)