How Can You Support Our Armed Forces? Join Us in Our 4th Annual Holiday Mail for Heroes Campaign!

November is Service to the Armed Forces Month. For the fourth year in a row, the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are working together to send holiday greeting cards to service members, veterans, and their families. Give back this holiday season by sharing your kind words and thanks with those who have given so much to our country.

Who can get involved? Everyone! You, family, friends, neighbors, churches, businesses, organizations, Boy and Girl Scout troops, and anyone else you can think of!

Cards are being accepted from September 3 - December 10, 2010. After reading the guidelines (below), create and send your card(s) to the following address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Guidelines to ensure your card is mailed successfully:

Please DO...

• Postmark your cards by Monday, December 10th. Cards submitted after the deadline will be returned to sender.
• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Make cards more meaningful to a wide variety of recipients by using “Dear Service Member, Family or Veteran.”
• You are encouraged to send holiday-neutral cards rather than religious-themed cards.
• 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.

Please 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.

After December 10, the P.O. box will close. All cards will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country. Then, the cards will be distributed by Red Cross volunteers to recipients in time for the holidays!

More information:

• Download a fact sheet
• Holiday Mail for Heroes on redcross.org

For more information, contact Amaal Phillips at (260) 484.9336 ext. 265 or PhillipsAma@usa.redcross.org.

Thanks for your support!