Hearts for Heroes - Help Support Our Troops!

Hello, Cartersville and surrounding area! You don't know me, and I don't know you (yet), but let's change that, shall we? :) I'm a newbie here, having lived in Emerson for right at a year with my teenagers (often referred to lovingly as "The Teenage Creatures"...because...TEENAGERS!!) and our various assortment of foster cats, the number of which is ever-changing from week-to-week as they move on to rescue shelters or get adopted. As time goes on, you'll hear a lot of anecdotes about Teenage Creatures and my life as The Crazy Kat Lady of Emerson, but that's later on down the road. Today, I need your help with something, a cause that is very near and dear to me.

With the exception of the past few years, I have always been very active in troop support activities. Every Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Fourth of July, I gather signed thank you cards and care package goodies from all over the USA and ship them to our troops deployed outside of the U.S. Earlier this month, we successfully sent off 60 Christmas stockings to three different platoons. The soldiers were absolutely delighted and it really brightened their Christmas!

December 25 may be over, but…they’re still out there in the desert away from home and family and friends. We’ve got another holiday coming up, one that most folks don’t think of in terms of “troop support care packages”…which is precisely why I DO. VALENTINE’S DAY is right around the corner! (Or, International Chocolate Appreciation Day… however you wish to spin it!). Now that the "big" holidays are over.... Let's not forget that they are still out there, still serving, still away from their family and friends back home. The post-holiday blues are a thing...and I'm sure they are even more of a thing when you can't be with those you love most! This is a chance to, quite literally, show our troops some love. To that end:

I am collecting SIGNED Valentine’s day cards (the cute little ones they make for kids are just fine, or thank-you cards, or even homemade cards or letters) AND Valentine’s candy – most especially, Hershey’s Kisses & Hershey’s Hugs.

This is a GREAT project for schools, churches, offices, daycares, families… everyone. I want our dear heroes to know WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THEM now that the “major” holidays have past!!

So, how can you help? It's easy! Just sign some Valentines Day cards (or make your own), and/or gather some Valentine's candy, and get it to me. I'll package it all up and ship it out. I'm trying to collect enough stuff to sent to at least fifty troops overseas. Another way you can help is by sharing this post and getting your offices, churches, families and others involved. Individually, we may not be able to do very much, but TOGETHER... I've seen beautiful things happen when we all join together to do something good. See how simple that is? :)

Cards and care package items can be mailed to me at: MamaKat Smith, PO Box 553, Emerson, GA 30137. If you are local to the Emerson/Cartersville/Acworth area, I can usually make arrangements to pick up whatever you collect to save you the hassle and expense of shipping something locally.

ALSO NOTE: EVERY SINGLE CARD AND LETTER IS READ BEFORE BEING SHIPPED OVERSEAS. Anything even remotely inappropriate will NOT be sent. What is inappropriate? Anything political, anything negative and anything R-rated. We have ZERO ulterior motives here, OK, folks? We just want to give our troops some appreciation and love from home....nothing more, nothing less.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at KatBrigidSmith@gmail.com.

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST to help get the word out!

DEADLINE FOR COLLECTING CARDS AND TREATS IS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3.

WE WILL BE SHIPPING EVERYTHING ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4.

Thanks so much, everyone.