VFW project helps keep troops in touch

BY KELLY URBAN
The Tribune-Democrat

December 30, 2007 11:52 pm

— Keep an eye on your mailbox, because U.S. service members serving abroad may be sending you a card.
A new project developed by the state department of Veterans of Foreign Wars is offering free boxes of greeting cards to be mailed to members of the military – who then can mail the cards back home to family and friends.
“Hallmark donated the cards to the department, and all the cards are musical,” said Larry Wade Sr., the state vice commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “There are a variety of cards, so they cover all occasions, like birthdays, holidays and even get well.”
Wade, a Cresson resident, said a tractor trailer full of cards was donated. The boxes are available for pickup by interested parties at the Sankertown VFW post.
“We’ll give them out until they are gone,” Wade said.
“There are roughly 20 to 30 cards in a box,” he said. “So far, cards have been sent out to Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.”
Wade said servicemen and women are able to mail the cards for free if they are serving in a combat zone.
“The goal of this project is to support our troops and let them know they are not forgotten and that we stand behind them,” he said.
One group that is doing its best locally to support the troops is a Sunday school class at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in downtown Johnstown.
“We do a mission and outreach project each year,” said Julie Follansbee, one of three Sunday school teachers. “One of our parishioners, Bill Pulliam, is serving in Iraq, and his daughter, Rachel, is in our class.”
Follansbee said that, in addition to sending the cards, the class also mailed care packages to the 70 men and women in Pulliam’s unit.
“It was nice to have this connection,” she said. “I thought it would be nice for the troops to be able to send a greeting to their families.”
Follansbee said she hopes that, through projects like these, her students will learn to become givers.
“I want them to see what they do now does affect other people,” she said.
Another project Wade and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are involved with is Operation Uplink, in which phone cards are given to military personnel so they can make calls to loved ones.
“It’s really a nice program, and I’m just overwhelmed by the response,” Wade said, adding that millions of phone cards have been distributed.
He said the reaction from service members on these types of projects has been wonderful and they are extremely appreciative.
“I’ve received e-mails thanking us for everything we do,” Wade said.

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