No, You CANNOT send Christmas Cards to "A Recovering Wounded Soldier"..so, how Can I send cards?

Sigh, I've already seen it starting, posts on Facebook and around the web suggesting that we send cards to 'A recovering wounded soldier' at 'Water Reed Army Medical center'.

And you CanNot do that,

A. because 'Walter Reed Army Medical Center' no longer Exists.

The Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 2005 closed both National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) and Walter Reed Army Medical Center culminating in the opening of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda on 15 September 2011 with the dedication ceremony occurring on 10 November 2011. 

WALTER REED NATIONAL MILITARY MEDICAL CENTER



and B . You have Never been able to send cards to just "A Recovering Wounded Soldier'.

This is just a fallacious meme that started years ago, and won't seem to disappear, and it's a huge cause of a great many contributions to dead letter piles....all those cards sent over the years to "a recovering wounded soldier' just ended up being discarded, and never benefitted anyone. Cards had to be specifically addressed to a person, or an organization, in order to be delivered.

So..How Can You Send Cards?

In years past, the American Red Cross had a national program called 'Holiday Mail for Heroes'

BUT, this year (2014) that program is changing...there wil No Longer Be a National Address to send Holiday cards to via the Red Cross

However, as you can see here on the

American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes  link,

 Red Cross chapters across the continental U.S. and Red Cross offices on military installations overseas will take complete control of the program.

Moving forward, local Red Cross offices will collect, sort, and distributing the holiday cards using an events-based approach in their local communities.

You can visit the link above to see how to contact your local Red Cross chapter to see if they are participating.

I'm posting this information because I hope if we spread the word we can

SAVE A CARD AND STOP THE FALSE MEME!

Spread the word, won't you? 

Want to send a Holiday card to a recovering wounded warrior? Holiday Mail for Heroes

In years past, there was always an email that got forwarded again and again starting about this time of year, along the lines of sending a wounded warrior a Christmas/holiday card at Walter Reed Army Medical center, and addressing it to Any Wounded Soldier.

Even though Walter Reed Army Medical Center no longer Exists (the new hospital that opened up to replace it is known as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center )...I still saw that viral email come up again in my inbox last year.

Which just makes me sad, because holiday cards addressed and sent like that will Never find their way to a wounded warrior.

However, there IS a way to send a holiday card to a recovering wounded warrior...via the American Red Cross, and the program is called   HOLIDAY MAIL FOR HEROES

A quick recap of the guidelines:

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.

Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
• Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
• If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.

All holiday greetings should be addressed and sent to:

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

The deadline for having cards to the P.O. Box is Friday, December 7th.
Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.
------------------
So please, take a few moments to send an extra card (or more!) to Holiday Mail for Heroes, to remind our nations recovering servicemen and women that they are not forgotten!!

And Thank you! to the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes, for supporting our troops with this program!

 

 

Sending Holiday Mail to Wounded Warriors

It's that time of year again, when caring folks wish to send Holiday mail to our Wounded Warriors.

Unfortunately, a number of years ago an email began virally circulating that claimed you could send Holiday cards to 'any wounded servicemember' at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

So, to be clear....NO, YOU CANNOT SEND HOLIDAY CARDS TO 'ANY WOUNDED SERVICEMEMBER' at Walter Reed.

For one thing, Walter Reed Army Medical Center CLOSED in August, and merged with Bethesda Naval Medical Center to become the  Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

For another, it's been quite a few years since  any of the military hospitals acceptedmail addressed to 'any wounded servicemember' .

But, fear not!......thanks to the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes

YOU CAN SEND HOLIDAY MAIL TO WOUNDED WARRIORS THROUGH THE

HOLIDAY MAIL FOR HEROES  program

Send cards to the address below:


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

All cards must be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9th. 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..

Ensure that all cards are signed.


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

Only cards are being accepted. Do not send letters.

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

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

Please refrain from sending holiday cards with glitter. Many of these cards will be delivered to military and veterans medical facilities and the glitter could interfere with a patient’s recovery.

We encourage participants to mail as many cards as they are comfortable sending. If you are mailing a large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing envelopes or use a flat rate box from the post office. Each card does not need its own envelope, as cards will be removed from all envelopes before distribution




Hope this helps you get your Holiday Mail on the way!! and Bless you, for wishing to send Holiday Wishes to our Wounded Warriors.

Thank you!! again this year, to Red Cross and Pitney Bowes.

Holiday Shipping dates for Deployed Troops, and "Holiday Mail For Heroes" for Wounded Troops

Blackfive  and   Assoluta Tranquillita  both have posts up about shipping dates for cards and packages to deployed troops, so wanted to link to those so you can check them out.....

and I also wanted to mention  Holiday Mail for Heroes  
The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are gearing up for this year’s Holiday Mail for Heroes program.

Beginning September 3rd you are invited to send holiday cards to our American service members, their families, and veterans. Please send all cards to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

The deadline for this year is December 10th.

(and go check out the  YouTube playlist for last years Holiday Mail for Heroes  )

Every year at Holiday Time, that unfortunate email starts circulating that incorrectly claims folks can send cards to 'any wounded soldier' at Walter Reed , and you can NOT do any such thing.

The only way that you CAN send such cards is through the
 Holiday Mail for Heroes Program from the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes

Spread the word, won't you?