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Holiday Mail for Heroes
Proudly Supported by Pitney Bowes
Send a Touch of Home
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 process.
For More information contact JP DeMerrit at 254-776-8362 / 888-776-9226 or via email jdemeritt@waco.redcross.org
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