"Holiday Mail For Heroes" Receives More Than 1.4 Million Cards For Service Members, Veterans And Military Families

Main Category: Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Article Date: 09 Jan 2009 - 4:00 PST

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More than 1.4 million holiday cards for service members, veterans and military families were received through Holiday Mail for Heroes, a joint initiative of Pitney Bowes and the American Red Cross. Messages from Americans of thanks, support and holiday cheer went to service men and women at more than 300 military bases and hospitals, veteran's hospitals, and other locations in the U.S. and around the world.

From November 11 until December 10, 2008, the public sent holiday cards to a special post office box. Pitney Bowes and the Red Cross screened cards for hazardous materials, sorted and packaged the cards, and delivered them to military installations and hospitals around the world. The 1.4 million cards received were more than double the number of cards from 2007, when nearly 600,000 cards were received, screened, sorted and delivered.

"Pitney Bowes is honored to have participated in this important initiative for the second year in a row with the American Red Cross," said Jon Love, President of Pitney Bowes Government Solutions. "The outpouring of cards sent by the public with messages of thanks, support and holiday cheer to service men and women, veterans and military families was truly inspirational and helped make the 'Holiday Mail for Heroes' program a huge success."

Media outlets across the country covered the story, and First Lady Laura Bush gave the support of the White House to the program when she joined a card sorting event in Washington, DC on Dec. 6. Red Cross chapters in 17 locations around the country received cards for sorting and worked with Pitney Bowes to distribute them to deserving members of the military and their families.

"I was confident we would collect one million cards for our service members, and I'm thrilled to see that the American people responded and pushed us far beyond that goal," said Sherri Brown, Senior Vice President of Service to the Armed Forces for the American Red Cross. "This would never have been possible if people weren't willing to take some time out of their busy holiday schedules to send a greeting to a service member, and for that we are so grateful."

For additional information on "Holiday Mail for Heroes," please visit: http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes is a mailstream technology company that helps organizations manage the flow of information, mail, documents and packages. Our 36,000 employees deliver technology, service and innovation to more than two million customers worldwide. The company was founded in 1920 and annual revenues now total $6.4 billion. More information is available at http://www.pb.com.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization - not a government agency - and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information, please visit http://www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://www.redcrosschat.org.

American Red Cross