Holiday Mail for Heroes

My alert Mother forwarded an email sent to her and many others tonight, with an address to send cards to "A Recovering American Soldier" care of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Folks, you CANNOT send cards to "A Recovering American Soldier",it says so right here on this page from Walter Reed's website:

(bottom of the page- "Walter Reed is not accepting mail addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier." )

HOWEVER, as you can see on the page I Linked

You CAN send cards through the Holiday Mail for Heroes program, run by the
American Red Cross partnering with Pitney Bowes

Check out any of the links above, and also Snopes.com

They all say the same thing



Holiday cards should be mailed to:

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

All cards must be postmarked no later than Dec. 10.
Cards should not be mailed or delivered to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The guidelines for sending cards are:

Card Guidelines
Please follow these guidelines when mailing a card to ensure that your card will quickly reach service members, veterans and their families. Every card received will first be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working in one of 16 sorting stations around the country.

All cards must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, December 10, 2008. Cards sent after this date will be returned to sender.

Please ensure that all cards are signed.

Please use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.

Please send cards as opposed to long letters which delay a quick review process.

Please do not include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.

Please do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing process.

Participants are encouraged to limit the number of cards they submit to 25 from any one person or 50 from any one class or group.
If you are mailing a larger quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing envelopes. Each card does not need its own envelope.

All cards received may be used in program publicity efforts, including appearing in broadcast, print or online mediums.
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I was sad when Mom forwarded me that email, which a very good-hearted and caring person had obviously passed on to many other people.......all that mail they will send to the Walter Reed address will be returned to them, and their good wishes for our Recovering Troops will not be passed on.

So please, if you're going to forward Any email about sending cards to recovering troops this holiday season?
Go to the American Red Cross website HERE

They have a form at the bottom to pass that page on via email. (My suggestion? email it to yourself, and then forward it on to everyone you can think of!)

Let's get the cards to our recovering servicemembers this year(not see those good wishes returned to you)
and Thank You, to the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes, for working to make this happen.