More than 23,000 Cards Collected Through Holiday Mail for Heroes

Thank you to our partners at Pitney Bowes for helping to mail the cards collected from the community. (l-r) Steve Hansen, Melissa Rieckoff, Nicole Prill, Deb Niec, Teri Klarner and Shawn Kiser.

Thousands of veterans, military families and active-duty service members at hospitals and installations around the world will receive a message of hope and joy this holiday season thanks to the efforts of people in Eastern Wisconsin. That region of the American Red Cross collected more than 23,000 cards from this year’s Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign.

“The outpouring of support from local businesses, community groups, schools and churches is amazing,” says Shawn Kiser, Regional Project Manager for Holiday Mail for Heroes in Eastern Wisconsin. “From Milwaukee to Manitowoc and even Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, thousands of people took the time to either fill out a holiday card or make their own to show their appreciation for those who serve our country.”

The region set a goal to collect 10,000 cards this year. It far surpassed that goal thanks to the efforts of the programs partners. They include: Aurora, Camera Corner Connecting Point, Green Bay Packers,  Humana, Kimberly-Clark, National Exchange Bank & Trust, Pitney Bowes, Schneider National, UW-Green Bay along with many others. We thank them for their support.

Pitney Bowes in Neenah covered the cost to ship thousands of cards to a location on the east coast where the cards are scanned and sorted. Once that process is complete, thousands of cards will return to the Red Cross in Eastern Wisconsin for distribution into the community.

It’s never too early to begin planning for next year’s Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign. If you want to become involved, contact Shawn Kiser at: Shawn.Kiser@redcross.org.

Click HERE to see photos from our different partners card hosting events.