Instead of continuing the now long thread titled Wounded Warrior about finding a new place to send blank cards in support of troops, I am starting fresh.
Recap: WW is not able to process them. They referred me to Op Gratitude who called me last night. As promised, I am relaying the info:
I spoke with Emily Rich, Dir of Nat Development, a very lovely lady who said they would be very happy to get our cards. I made it [B]very[B] clear that many of us will still be sending to OWH till Aug. and she was fine with it.
They send packages to deployed, veterans, new recruits, wounded warriors and First Responders (fireman, police and EMS-I presume injured?) and family/caregivers of them all.
This is the link:
About Operation Gratitude - Operation Gratitude
Currently Op Grat does a letter writing program very like Hero Mail for OWH.
This is the flyer she sent me:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in...87?projector=1
The mailing address given would be the same we would send blank cards to.
Here are the card guidelines she gave me:
Non denominational.
No glitter
Very general topics:
Happy Birthday
Thinking of you
Miss you
Love you
Congratulations (could work for grads, new baby, etc)
No holidays other than xmas-which they need in house by Oct 1st. They do do a big holiday push. If you do seasonal, keep in mind the timing. Takes them just as long to get there and back and may take longer for OP Grat to process in the first place than OWH. Summer drinks in Nov doesnt really work.
Keep in mind-they dont have a card hospital like Sandy so try to hold by all the good lessons Sandy taught us about no sticky bits, good weight paper, no "sneeze", etc. I really pitched heavily that we were talking about really good quality cards.
If you do send the letters, they ask if you want them to go to a particular group like vets vs deployed, you tie them up and label them way.
They do read all incoming mail for appropriateness.
Financial donations:
It costs them the same 15/box to ship as it does OWH being a PO priority box. HOWEVER
-DO NOT include checks with your box. Go to their Donate button and use that. She did say they really can use the money.
Here are gen directions and they do have a tax form you can print out and use on the site:
https://opgrat.wordpress.com/2011/09...shipping-info/
In case you do want to see the original thread:
Wounded Warrior Project by wavejumper at Splitcoaststampers
There was also mention in that thread of another group called Hope for the Warriors. I dont know what their requirements are but they also look very promising.
Home - Hope For The Warriors�
One last time...I am NOT trying to re-direct traffic from OWH-please PLEASE keep sending to them till the end. (in by Aug 1st) I was just doing re-con for a new choice after that is over. i started early since it takes me a long time to get anything done. Sandy has done SUCH an amazing job for seven years with OWH-not just processing the cards (as if that is some small thing) but teaching us, herding us, helping us, cajoling us lol....3 MILLION cards went out. That is such a testament to her and to all the cardmakers! We watched her hair style change, went on walks with her beloved pup and shared in the grief of his loss. We traveled with her to Europe and she shared her experiences with new products with us while nudging us to get rid of scraps. It was an amazing, very personalized experience that likely wont be repeated.
The idea is just that there are many people who like to support the troops, so I was just looking for another opportunity when the time comes.
I think that covers all the bases. I have Ms. Rich's phone in case I need to ask any Qs. So if you have some, feel free to ask me either here or PM me.
Operation Gratitude Update
