America Supports You: Partnership Remembers Troops at Valentine's Day

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 17, 2008 - Troops serving in Iraq this February will see a little Valentine love from the states thanks to a partnership between a troop-support group and a regional video store. On Jan. 15, 25 Family Video stores in the Central Illinois area began collecting DVDs and Valentines for the troops, said Eric Schuller, president of Operation Homefront's Illinois chapter. The effort is part of the "Send a Soldier a Movie and a Valentine" campaign, which will end January 29.

Operation Homefront is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"By sending this small gesture of a movie and a Valentine you are showing the men and women in the military that we care for them and what they are doing for us on a daily basis," Schuller said.

Family Video also is providing a card for the Valentine message as well as a $2 discount on any DVD patrons purchase in the store for the program.

Just after the program kicked off, the video chain announced it would match DVD donations one-for-one, Schuller said.

"If we collect 5,000, they'll donate another 5,000," he said. "That's huge."

Raelene Ohanesian, Family Video's director of sales and marketing, said the company is proud to team with Operation Homefront on this project. "Family Video has had a long-standing commitment in supporting the men and women who ensure our freedoms," she added.

For more information on participating in "Send a Soldier a Movie and a Valentine," please visit the Web site of Operation Homefront's Illinois chapter.