American Red Cross And Pitney Bowes Partnership Brought Holiday Cheer To Wounded Service Members

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 07 Jan 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Approximately 600,000 cards and personal messages of support were shipped and delivered to service members at military hospitals around the country and at installations overseas this holiday season. This unique partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes brought the comfort of supportive messages and holiday cheer to wounded service men and women.

In early December, with the support of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Red Cross and Pitney Bowes acted quickly to ensure that holiday cards could be sent to wounded service members during the holiday season. These partners created a PO Box in Maryland where cards and greetings could be sent. Pitney Bowes handled mail security and scanned for biohazards and hundreds of volunteers sorted through the cards at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, DC, throughout the month of December.

Pitney Bowes shipped these boxes of cards to 30 military hospitals nationwide, to five Red Cross offices in combat zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait and to the Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. Red Cross volunteers and staff at the medical facilities distributed the cards to the service members.

"Many people don't know that Red Cross volunteers and staff have long been embedded at these military hospitals and stations. Those Red Crossers acted quickly to share these cards with those recovering soldiers who couldn't be home for the holidays," said Neal Denton, Senior Vice President, Service to the Armed Forces. "We could not have embarked on this project without the help and support of our longtime partner Pitney Bowes and we would like to thank them for their support with this important project."

"We are very proud to have been a part of this creative, timely solution," said Pitney Bowes President and CEO Murray Martin. "It is inspiring to realize that so many Americans acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifices made by the men and women of the armed forces. I applaud the Red Cross and the volunteers who were so instrumental to the success of this program."

Because of the success of the 2007 holiday card program, the Red Cross is evaluating and considering whether to do a similar project next holiday season.

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

American Red Cross