Holiday Mail for Heroes

Posted on November 9, 2012 by American Red Cross Northeast Wisconsin Chapter

Each year the American Red Cross provides assistance to more than 2 million service members and many of our nation’s 24 million veterans. We support military families, military and veterans hospitals and provide emergency communications across the globe. And once a year, we get the joy of delivering holiday cards to veterans, military families and active-duty service members at hospitals and installations around the world.

The cards and personal messages, sent by tens of thousands of Americans, provide a welcome “touch of home” for our troops during the holiday season.

Visit our YouTube channel to see Red Cross volunteers distributing cards and messages in previous years: Holiday Mail for Heroes YouTube playlist.

Each year we collect cards between October and early December and then distribute them at military installations, veterans hospitals, and in other locations.

Throughout the year, you can make a difference with a monetary gift to Help Military Families through the Red Cross. Your donation can help change a military family’s life. Donate Now.

There are several ways to be part of the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. In addition to sending cards on your own, you may want to start making plans to host card signing parties or card making parties. Here are a few guidelines to help you on your way:

Card Guidelines:

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.

Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

  • Ensure that all cards are signed.
  • Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
  • Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
  • Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
  • Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
  • Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
  • If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.
All holiday greetings should be addressed and sent to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

P.O. Box 5456 Capitol Heights

MD 20791-5456

The deadline for having cards to the P.O. Box is Friday, December 7th. Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.

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Military Appreciation Cruise hosted by the Fond du Lac Yacht Club

Posted on August 3, 2012 by American Red Cross Northeast Wisconsin Chapter

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Red Cross Brings Military Families Together

Posted on February 26, 2011 by American Red Cross Northeast Wisconsin Chapter

Kathryn Bracho

By Kathryn Bracho: Click HERE for video of story.

Last year, Action 2 News anchor Sarah Thomsen tore up the floor in the Dancing with the Stars fundraiser for the American Red Cross’s local Lakeland Chapter.

This year, Action 2 News morning anchor Kathryn Bracho steps out. Each vote for your favorite dancer is a donation to the Red Cross (click here for details).

It’s a fun experience and raised money for an organization which helps thousands of people across Northeast Wisconsin.

The Red Cross provides a service not many people know about.

Most of us know the Red Cross is there after disasters like Hurricane Katrina or, more locally, a fire at your home.

But you may not know the Red Cross helps hard-to-reach members of the military get news and the emergency leave time they need when big events happen in their families, like deaths, serious illnesses, and births.

“I am there to help people in any way I can,” Gayle Hein said.

Hein says she’s proud to be a Red Cross volunteer. She never realized that her own family would need help from the Red Cross.

“Right before Christmas, my nephew’s mother had passed away unexpectedly at 49.”

Hein’s nephew, Kenneth Lehr, of Watertown, Wisconsin, was stationed with the Army in Alaska.

Lehr knew about his mom’s death, but standard procedure is for the Red Cross to confirm a death, birth, or serious illness so that the military member can get emergency leave.

“I think it was a godsend to him to get him home and stuff. I think otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to come home.”

Gayle Hein (on the left) volunteering at the Marine Corp welcome home event.

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“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – James Allen

Posted on November 11, 2010 by American Red Cross Northeast Wisconsin Chapter

By Guest Blogger: Doug Harvey, Communications Intern, American Red Cross

James Allen once said, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”  This past Saturday students from UW-Green Bay as well as myself had opportunity to put this thought into action.  The UWGB Red Cross Club (RCC) teamed up with GB Nites to help promote the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign.

UWGB Red Cross Club members making cards and banner at our monthly meeting.

Holiday Mail for Heroes is program set up to help people send thanks to our American service members, their families, and veterans all over the world, by sending them cards during the holiday season.  GB Nites is an event that takes place in the Student Union with fun and free events for the students.  With things such as free henna tattoos, a black light dance party, and my personal favorite, free ice cream, GB Nites was a perfect atmosphere to get the word out about this program.

Myself, with the help of Kristie Walker (treasurer of the RCC on campus), got there a little early to help set up tables and supplies (markers, crayons, paper etc.).  Luckily, the RCC had made a banner during our meeting a few days before, so students could see where we were located and why we were there.

The students responded really well to event.  Lots of students came to help support our campaign. Almost every student that stopped by knew or knew of someone in the Armed Services and I could tell that they were really putting themselves into the cards they made.

Overall I had a good time, and it was a great experience for me.  Not only the setting up of the event, but seeing that college kids really do want to make a difference.  I certainly look forward our next RCC event.

For more information on the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes Program click HERE.

UWGB students making cards for our service members.

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Send a Touch of Home to Those Who Serve Our Country

Posted on November 2, 2009 by American Red Cross Northeast Wisconsin Chapter

 

Send a touch of home to the real heroes of America and their families! Holiday Mail for Heroes is back again!

For the third year in a row, the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are working together to collect, sort and distribute holiday cards to service members, veterans and their families.

The Red Cross and Pitney Bowes will begin accepting cards on November 2, 2009. So get your pens and postage stamps ready and watch for the address in the coming weeks on RedCross.org.

All cards must be postmarked no later than Monday, December 7, 2009. Cards postmarked after December 7 will be returned to the sender. This deadline ensures enough time to sort and distribute cards before the holidays.

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.

If you would like to begin working on your cards now, here are some quick guidelines to ensure your cards makes to a hero as quickly as possible:

Do…

  • Ensure that all cards are signed.
  • Make cards more meaningful to a wide variety of recipients by using “Dear Service Member, Family or Veteran” rather than any more specific language. You are encouraged to send holiday-neutral cards rather than religious-themed cards. Note: Cards addressed to specific individuals cannot be delivered through this program.
  • Limit the number of cards to 15 from any one person or 50 from any one school class, business or group. If you are mailing a large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing envelopes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.

Do not…

  • Send letters. Only cards are being accepted.
  • Include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
  • Include cards with excessive amounts of glitter. Because cards may be received by wounded service members and veterans in hospitals, large quantities of glitter could aggravate existing health problems.
  • Include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing

 

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