Claim: Americans can send holiday cards to service members and veterans through the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program.
Summary:
Christmas cards sent to soldiers through the Red Cross-sponsored "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program will reach their intended recipients.
Christmas cards addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier" or "Any Wounded Soldier" sent to Walter Reed Hospital will not reach their intended recipients.
Origins: Recent years have seen several Internet-based grass-roots promotions of programs that enable the public to send letters, cards,
gifts, and other greetings to U.S. troops serving overseas or recovering in stateside hospitals, particularly around the holiday season. Unfortunately, many such promotions (such as the "Recovering American Soldier" effort) have not worked out as well as hoped due to insufficient organization, deadlines, security concerns, and other factors.
For the 2009 holiday season, the Red Cross is sponsoring a "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program to distribute holiday cards to service members, a program that encompasses not just troops who are recovering in military hospitals but also service members stationed throughout the U.S. and abroad, as well as veterans and their families:
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.
We will begin accepting cards on November 2nd. Send in your cards to the address below, and please read the guidelines carefully!
Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
All cards must be postmarked no later than Monday, December 7th. Cards postmarked after this date will unfortunately be returned to the sender. This deadline ensures enough time to sort and distribute cards before the holidays.
After the mailbox closes, the cards we received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country. Then, the cards are sent out to recipients in time for the holidays.
Please note that the following referenced guidelines are important — many contributors have been disappointed in the past to find that they missed the mailing deadline or sent gifts and other types of materials that could not be delivered:
Do
Sign all cards.
Entitle cards "Dear Service Member, Family or Veteran."
Limit the number of cards to 15 from any one person or 50 from any one school class, business or group.
Bundle groups of cards in single, large envelopes.
Don't
Send letters.
Include personal information such as home or email addresses.
Use glitter — excessive amounts can aggravate health issues of wounded recipients.
Include inserts of any kind as they must be removed in the screening process.
Also please note that the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program is for the delivery of holiday cards only. Those wishing to donate phone cards or gift certificates should go to www.aafes.com, scroll down to "AAFES Community Connection" and click on "Help Our Troops Call Home" or "Gift Cards/Certificates for Our Troops" in order to send such items.
E-mailed entreaties from previous years have urged Americans to send cards addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier" or "Any Wounded Soldier" care of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but Walter Reed officials have said that any material so addressed will not be delivered:
Walter Reed Army Medical Center officials want to remind those individuals who want to show their appreciation through mail to include packages and letters, addressed to "Any Wounded Soldier" that Walter Reed will not be accepting these packages in support of the decision by then Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Transportation Policy in 2001. This decision was made to ensure the safety and well being of patients and staff at medical centers throughout the Department of Defense.
In addition, the U.S. Postal Service is no longer accepting "Any Service Member" or "Any Wounded Service Member" letters or packages. Mail to "Any Service Member" that is deposited into a collection box will not be delivered.
Instead of sending an "Any Wounded Soldier" letter or package to Walter Reed, please consider making a donation to one of the more than 300 nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families listed on the "America Supports You" website, www.americasupportsyou.mil
Additional information:
Holiday Mail for Heroes (American Red Cross)
Last updated: 14 November 2009
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/soldiercards.asp
