A compassionate grandmother from New Hampshire is sending some 100,000 holiday cards to U.S. military personnel stationed across the globe.
As a full-time psychologist, you’d think that Laura Landerman-Garber would have enough on her plate. However, as an avid supporter of her country’s military, the energetic patriot decided to set up something of “passion project” as a way to show her gratitude — a non-profit called “Holiday Cards for Our Military Challenge.”
The project began as a family tradition 16 years ago, when Landerman-Garber told her children that they could not eat thanksgiving dinner until they had penned a personal card to a military member. “Ticket to turkey,” she called it.
Over the years, other families got involved and the idea snowballed. This year, she received cards from across 32 states, along with Canada and Guam.
This holiday season, the non-profit will send 100,000 cards to men and women serving in every single sector of the United States military across the world, doubling last year’s haul of 50,000.
“The thought of someone being away at a time when in our culture, in American culture particularly, the holidays are all about gathering together… for me, I wanted to be able to reach out and just maybe give a little bit of a bridge so that person who is far away feels a little tiny bit closer to home,” the grandmother told CNN.
Landerman-Garber recalled some of the emotional messages written within cards, many of which have been penned by children. “Dear sailor, I’m very lonely. Are you lonely? But when somebody loves me, I feel better. How about if I love you?” one read.
On the charity’s website, Laura expressed gratitude to all those who assist her in her mission to let “our Troops know that we here at home are thinking of them and appreciate their dedication to protecting our freedoms!”
You can learn more about how to get involved in the initiative by heading here.