By Joe Pinchot
MERCER COUNTY —
American Red Cross of Trumbull and Mercer counties is collecting holiday cards to deliver to active military personnel and veterans.
This will be the first year for the “Holiday Mail for Heroes” campaign for the local chapter, although other chapters have been collecting cards for two or three years in tandem with Pitney Bowes Inc.
“We’ve seen a large increase in our area with the number of men and women joining the military and being activated,” said Trumbull/Mercer Program Specialist Jessica Jaros. “It’s a way that we can say thank you and send a touch of home.”
Red Cross workers have made presentations to the Pennsylvania National Guard units in Hermitage and Grove City, the Army Reserve base in Farrell and the Air Reserve Station in Vienna, Ohio. Next week, they will be visiting Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, Ms. Jaros said.
Local families of servicemen on active duty or vets can contact Ms. Jaros at 330-392-2551 to have their loved ones added to the recipient list.
Holiday cards should be sent to Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456.
The deadline for mailing cards is Dec. 7.
“If they’re not postmarked by then, there is a good chance they will be returned to the senders,” Ms. Jaros said.
The cards, which will be distributed the second or third weeks of December, should not contain money, glitter, confetti or any other inserts. Some of the cards will be going to Veteran’s Administration hospitals and material falling from the cards could be harmful, Ms. Jaros said.
The cards can be signed, but senders’ addresses are not to be included, nor are letters.
“It’s not meant to be a pen pal thing,” Ms. Jaros said. “Just a holiday card.”
Care packages are not being collected.
Red Cross and Piney Bowes will scan the cards for hazardous materials, sort and package the cards, and deliver them to their destinations. Pitney Bowes is providing screening, packaging and shipping.
Guidelines are available at www.redcross.org/holiday mail
