Holiday Mail for Heroes; Send a Card to a Recovering American Soldier

Americans can send holiday cards to service members and veterans through the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program.
Send your love and support of our American soldiers and veterans this year by giving a card to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom, and for our way of life. These folks deserve it! I checked out this whole thing through snopes.com after receiving a similar request in my email. I found out that the address offered (shown at the bottom of this article) is NOT the address you should send your holiday wishes to, it will not be received. So this is what snopes had to say about this new program called Holiday Mail for Heroes which IS the real deal. Below you will find the correct address in which to send your holiday wishes to our American heroes sponsored by the Red Cross.

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 2010 holiday season, the Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are again 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.

The cards should be addressed to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

"As noted on the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" section of the American Red Cross' web site, all cards must be postmarked no later than Friday, December 10, 2010. Cards postmarked after that will be returned to the sender. This deadline ensures enough time to sort and distribute cards before the holidays."
Ok, so it's too late this year, but don't forget about them next year! I'm sure the Red Cross will have this same program again.

The Red Cross provides these additional guidelines:
Do
* Include your heartfelt sentiments and sign all cards
* Entitle cards with generic terms such as "Dear Service Member, Family or Veteran"
* Limit cards to 15 per person or 50 for school class or business group
* Bundle groups of cards in single, large envelopes.

Don't
* Send letters, care packages or monetary gifts
* 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 items such as phone cards or military comfort kits should go to the military section of the Red Cross online catalogue.

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
p.s. the following address should not be used as it will not reach any soldier "for safety reasons" said by Walter Reed Army Medical Center, they have to throw them out or give them to charity.
* Christmas cards addressed to "A Recovering American Soldier" or "Any Wounded Soldier" sent to Walter Reed Hospital will not reach their intended recipients.

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

Resources:
Snopes.com