Volunteers, American Red Cross Sort Thousands of Cards for Troops

By Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Justin Smelley, Naval Air Facility Atsugi Public Affairs

ATSUGI, Japan (NNS) -- Volunteers from the Red Cross, Camp Zama Family Readiness Support group, Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi Ombudsmen, active duty service members and spouses helped out Oct. 1 at the NAF Atsugi's Aerodrom Conference Room by sorting holiday cards for the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program.

The volunteers received and sorted more than 5,000 cards but the Red Cross station manager expects close to a million by the end of the campaign.

"Today we are sorting cards for 'Holiday Mail for Heroes,'" said Kenneth Romero, Station Manager for the American Red Cross serving Camp Zama and NAF Atsugi. "Basically it's a campaign Red Cross does in the U.S. to offer the American public a chance to show their support for military members who are deployed and serving worldwide."

The cards go through Pitney Bowes Inc. where they collect and screen the mail received. They go through and check for any hazardous materials in the mail. After that process they are shipped to various Red Cross locations where workers and volunteers sort through it.

"We are sorting them by the branch of service and to make sure that they are appropriate to send. We also check to see if they are for wounded military members or veterans," said Romero.

"I volunteered because I believe in the Christmas spirit and I wanted to give back to our service members," said Dozier Renee, Family Readiness Support Assistant for 441st Military Intelligence Battalion.

"I think this is a good way for the American people to show their support," said Romero. "There is a lot of energy put into these cards and we're able to share that with the folks deployed over here."

The program started on September 3rd and has a deadline of December 10th.

If you would like to participate in the "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program send cards to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

PO Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD

20791-5456