Golden Tape Gun Awards

This award poster might seem a little tongue-in-cheek (or tape-on-box!), but....without our wonderful volunteer shippers, where would we be? They fully deserve an award for their tireless work! Anyone know where we can buy a golden tape gun?

On just about every day of the year, our shippers:

• receive packages in the mail
• open them and check for packing slips, and start counting if there's no total
• stamp the backs if that's not done
• match them with envelopes
• email every donor with an acknowledgement
• report every donation 
• sort cards by type
• keep up with hero contacts by email
• do triage in the card hospital as needed (repairing, adding liners to dark cards, etc)

And then on packing days, our shippers:

• sort and pack boxes of over 300 cards each
• pack up 15-20 or more AnyHero letters for each box
• write a letter to each contact
• tape up each box and fill out customs form
• traipse to the Post Office and stand in line
• report boxes shipped 

These are heroic tasks, and a little bulletpoint list barely scratches the surface of the enormity of the gift of time and energy our shippers give to OWH! Their families sacrifice as well—giving them time to do this valuable work.

In our Annual Review published last week, you may have noticed this little pie chart...it shows the percentages of the total shipments from 2009 made from each location. Washington's been the heavy lifter since the inception of the project, partially because the west coast is quite prolific in cardmaking (gooooo California!), and partially because Sandy has a lot of personal cardmaking friends out there across the land!

Currently our shippers are all-volunteer...our small cash revenues aren't enough to pay any staff at this time. (Until recently, our shippers even purchased their own packing tape!) Yes, they do love our heroes, and receive their favorite payment when they do the "happy dance" at the mailbox when a card or letter comes from one of their contacts...or when an email pops up from someone they've shipped their cards to. Getting to know a hero is the greatest honor, and hearing about the impact of OWH's service is quite a joy!

Some of you have emailed us with offers to become an OWH shipper—and we want to say thanks so much for your heart to help! However, right now we're waiting to see what 2010 will bring. A while back we had more shippers at the same time, and cards were divided between so many locations that it was challenging to get boxes out to meet our heroes' requests. With three shippers, it's more work for those individuals, but is also making us more efficient in responding to our service members' needs. If volume increases further in the coming months we may add another shipper, but for the time being we're waiting to see what happens. Stay tuned!

If you live near one of our shippers and would like to assist them sometime, please feel free to contact them. You might be able to assist with stamping the backs of cards, matching with envelopes, triage in the card hospital, or even packing boxes.....depending on what day you're able to help, and what needs the shipper has at the time.

Many thanks to our rockin' OWH shippers....keep on shippin'!

Mailroom Monday: February 8, 2010

5,665 cards were mailed out to our heroes this week—17 boxes, at a cost of $212.50. This week we passed the "1200 boxes" milestone!

Check out this amazing pile of AnyHero letters—626 from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD! A group of sorority sisters from Gamma Sigma Sigma did a service project and wrote these. WOW! What great toppers for our boxes.....they'll bring lots of SMILES!

To  heroes in Afghanistan:
325 cards to an Army unit
325 cards to an Air Force unit
325 cards to a Marine unit
325 cards to a Navy unit
325 cards to an Air Force unit
325 cards to a Marine unit
325 cards to Contractors to share with Soldiers

335 cards to an Air Force unit
335 cards to a Navy unit
335 cards to an Army unit

345 cards to an Army unit
345 cards to an Army unit
345 cards to an Army unit

To heroes in Iraq:
325 cards to an Army unit
335 cards to an Army unit

345 cards to an Army unit

 To heroes in Kuwait:

345 cards to an Army unit

Other fun statistics:
Number of boxes sent: 1,202
Number of hero contacts: 665
Total cards sent: 335,964

Deadline reminders:
Valentines: passed 

St Patricks Day: Feb 12 (sooner is preferable!)
Easter: Feb 26 (sooner is preferable!)
  

Shipper needs this week: Now listed on our "Biggest Needs" post here.

The 9/11 Truck

It's important to remember the events that shape who we are. As individuals, as families, as communities—and as a nation.
It is hard not to be impressed by John Holmgren's efforts to remember the events of 9/11, and to share it with the nation. He paid $40,000 to have his truck hand-painted with a fireman, and with Old Glory; and with printed lettering listing 3,168 names of people who perished on 9/11.

This truck is a moving memorial in more than one sense of the word. "It's just my way of respecting the families, and it turned out to be so much more," says Holmgren.

It is always amazing to see what art can convey, when soapbox oratory fails.

Text re-posted from Wikipedia:

The Rolling Memorial is a semi-trailer truck painted with a mural intended to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks. The project was conceived by John Holmgren of Shafer, Minnesota in the United States after hearing the song "Have You Forgotten" by country singer Darryl Worley.


An over-the-road truck driver, Holmgren transformed his 18-wheeler into the tribute with the help of a mural artist. The mural image, along with the names of the victims of the attack, were printed onto vinyl sheets and applied to the truck at a cost of nearly $40,000 USD. Holmgren sold t-shirts, toy models of the truck and other merchandise to cover expenses but has nonetheless gone into debt.


Holmgren attributes the popularity of his truck to an e-mail forward, which apparently started in 2004 with a food company employee who photographed the truck. The e-mail eventually made its way into the hands of celebrities such as Jimmy Buffett and Reba McEntire, who then asked Holmgren to bring his truck to their concerts. The truck was also invited to "ground zero" for a special commemorative ceremony in 2004.


Holmgren displays the truck all over the U.S. and continues to use it to transport freight when possible. In an interview with the Star Tribune, he said "Troopers pull me over just to get a picture with the truck. Once I even got out of a ticket. The guy said, 'I can't give this to you, knowing what you're doing.'" Holmgren has received emails from over 20 countries, and there are several websites devoted to his truck. He has also met with families of 9/11 victims.

Have you ever seen the truck? Tell us about it.

Thankful Thursday: February 4, 2010

This little girl likes mail as much as we do! Can you imagine the squeals of delight of our shippers?

1. Jessica Lynn M.....WOW! Gorgeous cards! Thanks for holding a card drive and sharing these with our heroes!
2. Kay V, Jupiter FL - super cards, thank you so much!
3. Thank you, Dolores A. in Frederick, MD for your beautiful cards and generous donation! Your cards are going to make lots of people happy!
4. Ann F and friends......thank you for these great St Patty's day cards.  
5. Thank you, Debbie K in Burke, VA! Your cards are terrific! Thank you too for your generous donation for shipping!!
6. Thanks Michelle  L. in NYC!! What beautiful Mothers Day cards! Thanks too for the generous donation to help with shipping! You rock!
7. Thank you Robin M. and the American Heritage Girls Troop 1004 in Bon Agua, TN for your terrific letters to our heroes.
8. Teena W in Lexington, NC, thanks for the terrific cards! So many different styles!
9. Nancy C, Hollister CA - you have a great day in the Lord as well...thanks again for another SUPER box of cards!
10. Judie F, Paula P, and Robin G, Coeur d'Alene ID - perfectly wonderful mix of cards, these suit my needs exactly! Thanks!
11. Lori H, Federal Way WA, it was soooo much fun stamping with you..thanks for the great cards too! Whooo!
12. Ellen H, Vancouver WA - lovely lovely cards...thank you so much!
13. Janet and Karen J, Astoria OR - fantastically done cards, you're awesome
14. Janet and Karen J, Astoria OR - fantastically done cards, you're awesome
15. Ruth L, Post Falls ID - what a great selection of themes, thank you so very much!
16. Dee M, Puyallup WA - your cards are so pretty! Thanks so much for them all...and for a fun day of stamping!
17. Christina M, Pawnee IL, thanks so much for your great pack of cards, beauuuutiful! The Anyhero cards are a treasure ;)
18. Lynn R, High River Alberta, you're so sweet sending your cards for our American heroes....thanks so very much!
19. Mary Ann S, Fontana CA - wow, so many pretty cards once again, THANK YOU! Your donation is a blessing too!
20. Debbie S. and Wanda A. in Gastonia, NC, thanks for the terrific cards, the generous donation and the hero letters from the third graders! Wonderful!!
21. Thanks, Sherry T. in Collinsville, AL! Your cards are beautiful, and your generous donation will be so helpful getting cards to our heroes!
22. Thank you Till, Inc in Chelsea, MA for the clever cards to send to our heroes!
23. Jan A, Los Gatos CA, thanks so much for the cards - and the quote is fantastic!
24. Erica C. in Kenmore, NY, thank you for the cards! The pot of gold looks even better than the picture on FB!! Thanks too for the Hero letter!
25. Stephanie G. and Robin G. of New York, thank you for the huge box of cards and the generous donation! Thanks for the nice variety!
26. Thank you, Maura H. in Broadalbin, NY for your terrific cards! Our heroes will love your work! Thanks too for the Hero letters!!
27. Denise I. in Williamsville, NY, thank you for the terrific box of 100 happy cards and the donation! Thank you too for writing letters to our heroes!!
28. Chris L, Leavenworth KS, thanks so very much for your generous shipping donation!
29. Thank you to the Morgans for your generous donation!!
30. Dee N, Duluth MN, it's so nice to see you crafting again! Thanks for Brecklin's beautiful AnyHero cards too, they're awesome!
31. Becky and Marilea, Elk Grove CA, what a treasure each and every one of your cards is, thank you!
32. Thank you, Debb R. in Scotia, NY for your terrific cards and the donation! Your cards will bring lots of smiles!
33. Jean U, Palmer AK, your card selection is just wonderful, thanks so much!
34. Cheryl Y, S.Pasadena, CA, your cards are just LOVELY! Thank you so much, they will bring smiles of delight!
35. Sue A, Rockford IL......another great package.  Love these!!
36. Linda B, Burien WA - so many cute cards for kids! These are awesome, thanks!
37. Kathie B, Forest City NC.....your first batch of OWH cards are wonderful and beautiful!  THANKS!
38. Thank you Cathy C. in Winston-Salem, NC for the beautiful box of cards! I especially like the ones with googlie eyes!!
39. Rebecca C, Kamas UT, thanks so much for the wonderful AnyHero letters!
40. Seongsook D. of Elk Grove, CA, thank you for the beautiful cards and the generous donation!! Lovely coloring!!
41. Susan D, Tinley Park IL.....thanks for the package of great cards!!
42. Cheryl F, Lapeer MI.....these cards are awesome! Thank you.
43. Gayla G, Dillsboro IN, your missing you cards are adorable....and thanks for the great AnyHero letters from the kiddos! Sweet!
44. Ann H and Checkered Cottage Friends, North Attleboro.....Thanks for the great Valentine's Day cards!!
45. Audrey H and St John's Sunday School, Hooker OK.....thank you for the wonderful cards and Any Hero letters.
46. Marian J, Huber Heights OH.......another great package of cards!! Thank you.
47. Linda K, Grant MI.....fabulous box of cards.  Appreciate the variety of themes.
48. Thank you Wayne Hills High School National Honor Society of Wayne, NJ for the 175 letters, notes, and cards to our heroes! Your efforts will bring joy to a lot of our military! Well done! Thank you too for the shipping donation!
49. Sandi M, Fremont CA....thank you for these fabulous cards!!! Love them.
50. Lori R. in Springfield, VA., thank you for the terrific cards! I love the melon cards best! Thanks!
51. Mary S and Girl Scouts, St Paul MN......thank you for these wonderful cards.  Great Job!
52. Megan S, Brooklyn Park MN....thank you for the wonderful package of cards.
53. R Smith, Cottage Grove MN......thank you for the great cards!!! Beautiful.
54. Shirley S. in Columbus, MS, thank you for the cards and the donation! I'm still chuckling over that monkey card!
55. Denise W, N Las Vegas NV, I love the variety of cards, thanks so much!!
56. Helen M, Spring Creek NV.....wonderful, beautiful cards!! Thank you.
57. Leah C, St Paul MN....what an AWESOME package.  These cards are gorgeous!  
58. Sandy and Jess C, Beloit WI - your generosity is much appreciated, thank you!!
59. Esther E, Vancouver WA, you look like you've been having so much fun....what great cards!
60. Joan R, Woodland WA, your cards are always soooo pretty - our heroes will love them! And we're so grateful for your donation :)
61. Christine Z, White Lake MI - awesome cards, they're so cheery! Tell your hubby thanks for the postal run!
62. Janice A, Bountiful UT - fantastic cards, your St Pattys cards are right on time for the weekend's boxes! Thanks also for the generous donation :)
63. Kristi G, San Antonio TX - thanks for the great mix of cards :) :) :)
64. Julie Y, Selma OR - welcome to the OWH family! What a wonderful first package, thank you!
65. Jeanne J, St Maries ID - thanks, your cards are always so precious!
66. Beverly D and Chris-Ann L, Fort Montgomery NY - your cards are absolutely lovely, ladies - thank you! Your donation will make a huge difference as well....bless you!
67. Cheryl B in Manchester, NH, thank you for the terrific collection of cards! I'll get those cute snowmen in the mail this week!
68. Ellicott City Rubber Stamp Club in MD, thank you for the terrific cards! You all rock!
69. Susan F in Danville, IN, thanks for sending the letters to our heroes from thee First Assembly of God: Children's Ministries. They did a terrific job!
70. Julianne G in Sparta, NJ, thank you for the terrific cards! Love the stitching! Thank you for the donation and the envelopes as well!

OWH History Lesson: Slow and steady

We promised a little more detail on some of the points made in the Annual Review....here's the first installment!

If you downloaded and viewed the Annual Review a few days ago, you probably saw this chart...it's absolutely amazing how many cards have been sent in for our heroes! The boomerang effect is even more amazing - for each of the cards sent in, multiply the effect by 2 or more, since a hero and the recipient of the card both get blessed by it!

To put all this growth in perspective, here's a short history about the start of the project.

In 2007, at the beginning of this adventure, Sandy asked a simple question on the Two Peas in a Bucket Stamping Message Board:

I was listening to Weekend America on the radio, and they interviewed a woman who makes bajillions of cards for the troops with her church---like over 1000 a month. Do any of you do something like that? Are there groups you know of we could make cards for and send them to write out? I don't want to duplicate the effort of getting the addresses for soldiers in need of mail, so am looking for someone who already does such a thing. I send cards to the guys & gals from my church who are overseas, and would love to have another outlet for the nutty number of cards I make.

And a hero who saw that post, replied with this:

Hi, I lurk here whenever I have access to a computer. I am in a combat hospital in Iraq. I can tell you we would love to have home made cards to send to loved ones for the holidays. I miss my stamping and scrapbooking supplies. It means so much that people take time out of their busy schedules. You can e-mail me for my address. I will be a point of contact.

Thus began the project! One box became two, then three...and more contacts were then located. And more. Two friends also shipped cards, so the merry band of three fumbled along, organizing only through email and message board posts. The photo at left is the Christmas cards beginning to take over during that first season! (Organization was NOT under control at that time, as you can see!) By the time November rolled around, a friend offered to build and host a website, and the url was purchased to park it at cardsforheroes.org ...and things started hopping!

Initially there was no intent to become a full-fledged nonprofit;  though we now had a website, there was always a question whether our friends would tire of the project and it would just fade away. There were other orgs doing the same thing, and many were quitting due to lack of interest and funding, and there was no way to know if we'd be continuing or not; until midway through '08, much of the shipping cost was borne by Sandy out-of-pocket, and that somehow needed to change. But there was steady but slow growth in both cards and shipping donations...perfect to allow us to learn along the way. By the time we reached the fall, we finally registered with Washington State as a business—our "birthday" became Sept 12th, and in subsequent months we formed a board and began the 501(c)(3) application process (more on that adventure later!).

2009's major growth can be attributed to two factors: first was our entry into the social media realm, particularly on Facebook and Twitter; these two gave us so many more ways to share great info, and made the content easier to pass on as well. Second was the Memorial Day bloghop, which was an outrageously huge success. 150 blogs participated, and got the word out to so many people! So many contacts with cardmakers began to be made, including articles in Cardmaker Magazine and other pubs, challenges hosted on major blogs like Hero Arts, conventions full of scrapbookers and stampers, and people across America who were inspired to step it up a notch and involve their communities.

Where we'll be at this time in 2011 is anyone's guess. What we do know is that we have thousands and thousands of heroes out there on the battlefield, serving selflessly...and we'll keep supporting them as long as they're there!

Make your prediction about the 2010 quantity!
We'll revisit the comments on this post in January of 2011 - and see who was closest!

Mailroom Monday: February 1, 2010

6325 cards mailed out this week!!

To  heroes in Afghanistan:
  350 cards to an Army unit
 325 cards to a Marine unit
 325 cards to an Army unit
 325 cards to a Civilian Contractor serving alongside Soldiers
 325 cards to an Army unit
325 cards to a Marine unit
325 cards to an Air Force unit
325 cards to an Army unit
342 cards to an Army unit
342 cards to an Air Force unit

To heroes in Iraq:
 350 cards to an Army unit
 340 cards to an Army unit
 325 cards to an Army unit
 325 cards to an Air Force unit
 342 cards to an Army unit
 342 cards to an USAF unit

To heroes in Kuwait:
 325 cards to an Army unit
 325 cards to an Army unit
 342 cards to an Army unit

Other fun statistics:
Number of boxes sent: 1185
Number of hero contacts: 657
Total cards sent: 321,602

Deadline reminders:
Valentines: passed 

St Patricks Day: Feb 12 (sooner is preferable!)
Easter: Feb 26 (sooner is preferable!)
  

Shipper needs this week: Now listed on our "Biggest Needs" post here.

State of the Operation: January 31, 2009

We've spent the last month combing our records, and due to the wonders of Excel, there's lots of interesting information to share with you all! First, a video message...



Download our 8-page Annual Review for 2009...and hopefully you'll be encouraged to see all that's been accomplished! 

Some general notes about overhead:

Operation Write Home's revenue is made up of  cash contributions plus the value of the cards donated. There's no accurate way to assess the value of the cards, since some would have a higher market value than others; we've assigned a median of $2 per card as the value for purposes of filing with the IRS. Expenses break down into three categories: fundraising, which includes the website; management and general, which includes things like professional fees, purchases of envelopes, etc; and programs, which includes the value of cards plus all our shipping costs. Our overhead rate is very very low; we currently pay no salaries, rent, etc, therefore almost all of your donation goes directly to shipping the cards.

Text of the State of the Operation Message in the video above (approximate...getting the words close took almost 30 takes! Can't hire good talent nowadays...). The links will take you to blog posts or sites referred to in the message.

Hi, I’m Sandy Allnock, president of Operation Write Home, here to bring you our State of the Operation message. We have so much to celebrate from 2009, and so much to look forward to in 2010!

First, a thank you to our heroes watching this…you all are the reason OWH even exists. You’re the reason our nation stands strong and free—and we’re so grateful. Your courage, dedication, and willingness to sacrifice yourselves on our behalf  are an inspiration and a blessing to us all. Keep safe out there, do your job well, write to your mom, and know we stand behind you 100%!

To our cardmakers…you make all of this possible with your amazing creativity! Our shippers are inspired by you, and our heroes regularly write to tell us how impressed they are by your handiwork. Thank you for giving of your time, your talents, and the treasures of supplies you use to make the cards!

To our financial donors…how do we begin to thank you for being the engine that keeps us going! Your gifts, both large and small, make a difference in keeping the post office well-fed, keeping our website up and running, purchasing envelopes, and taking care of those behind-the-scenes tasks that are so necessary. And to all the companies who have donated supplies for our card challenge prizes, bless you for your generosity!

Giant thanks go out to our shippers... who put in countless hours sorting shipping packing emailing and giving so much of their lives to this project. It wouldn't be possible without them and I am so very grateful for each of them who has served in 2009 and throughout the inception of the organization.

2009 saw so many changes for us—increases in card volume, the excitement of bloghops, new partnerships, hundreds and hundreds of new cardmakers addicted to serving our heroes—but the largest change was the name and website. After a long series of events, we changed from Cards for Heroes to Operation Write Home in September…and what a blessing that has been! Thank you to all those who helped us through that transition—especially our attorneys, and our board of directors, who slogged through IRS forms and Skype meetings to nail down the details! It’s amazing now that many people can’t remember what the old name was…only a few months later!

The number of cards received and then mailed out to our heroes has been astonishing – almost 240,00 in 2009, and 100,000 for Christmas alone! It’s no wonder our shippers were just a bit tired throughout the fall! But that brings me to another thing to celebrate: the number of people who have been stamping the backs of their cards, perfecting “the tuck”, including packing slips, and by doing these things, helping to make our shippers’ jobs easier! The extra few minutes you take on your end makes a world of difference on ours – thank you!

We also saw a huge increase in Operation Write Home’s social media presence in 2009—first, among bloggers, as our bloghops took off with over 200 blogs participating throughout the year, and then on Facebook and Twitter. Our Facebook fan page has been an incredible resource for all of us to get inspired, learn tips and tricks, see pictures of each others’ cards, and become more of an OWH family as we get to know each other. Our new Stars and Stamps blog just began this month, and stems from of all the crafters who want to really develop our community and encourage each other — and that’s what social media is all about! Friends! The more that the blogs and facebook fans comment, post, link, and generally chatter about, the higher our rankings on Google, Twitter, and Facebook, and the more free advertising we get from them all— which all leads to inviting even more crafters to join us on our mission. It’s a win win all around!

As we get further into 2010 and find more of our service members leaving Iraq, our focus on Afghanistan will become even more prominent. We’ll be working on making more connections with those deploying to Afghanistan, and may find ourselves moving some of our deadlines earlier to accommodate longer shipping time for our boxes, so stay tuned to the Homefront Blog as that begins to develop.

The heavy deployments to Afghanistan may also mean we need even more cards; many locations there don’t have internet access, unlike Iraq where it was much more common. Therefore writing letters could be an even more urgent needs for those deployed.

This year we’re working on more back-end database details to smooth out our processes, complete with automated receipts! You have no idea what a blessing that will be.

We’ll also be moving further on the process to register our trademark for our name, Operation Write Home, and fundraising for the fees that process will incur. 

I’ll stop talking and let you read the Annual Review pdf itself; for those watching this on YouTube, look over there for a link, and on our blog, scroll down to check it out, as well as to see a transcript of this video complete with links to things I mentioned.

I’d like to close with a letter that just came in yesterday..."I was thrilled to find a box of cards from my FAVORITE support group in the  pile of my packages. I can't even begin to tell you how much joy (and envy) your cards have brought to my family and friends. Our deployment is ending soon, and I will certainly miss the men and women I have served with here. But I will also miss the gorgeous boxes of cards and think of your grou pevery time I buy a card in the future! Thank  you for all your efforts and kindness. Much love, LCDR K. R."

God bless our heroes.
God bless our OWH family.
and God bless the United States of America!

Over the next few weeks, we'll be posting a little more detail on some of the items included in the Annual Review....especially anything that would answer questions from all of you. Stay tuned to this blog and we'll share more info!