From Our Hearts

A Glimpse of Today At the Office

A candid shot was stolen of Tom, our VP, helping to check in the 8 boxes of donated cards that arrived today.

Tom helps daily, checking the mail, delivering the boxes to the office, and helping when needed - as this evening, when asked if he would assist with the check in process.

Each box is carefully recorded on a "check in" sheet - then photographed, and opened.  The inventory sheet is removed, and stapled to the check in sheet - along with any notes, letters or cards included.  This helps to keep track of our contributors - our donations are recorded into a database and of course, eventually end up on the blog.

The cards are carefully removed, photographed, and if not already counted and recorded on an inventory sheet included in the box, we count them.  And, if they come "box ready", are placed in the holding boxes located on the many shelving units.  If they need "work" - they are set aside for our volunteers to add envelopes or clear envelopes or slips - whatever is needed.  We use contributed funds to purchase what we need to get them ready to ship.

This is what happens to your boxes when they arrive at From Our Hearts!  We have several volunteers who donate their time and who help us, and a few who donate several hours of their time each week.  We appreciate all the dedication and hours they put in to keep our operation going!

We've been busy . . .

And it was a very, very long night for us last night as we prepared to send nearly 1,800 cards to our chaplains!  These were the last of the Halloween card donations that were received that needed the envelopes and clear envelopes.

Susan T., our Vice President of Operations (and wow, does she have a BIG job keeping us organized!) worked on these last black and orange beauties while Martie wrote out the custom declaration forms - a tedious but quite necessary step in the operation.

Then the box assembly began.  You'd think it is a quick process - just put the cards in the boxes! - but we make certain that not all of one type of card ends up in one box - we spread them out among the boxes so there is a good selection for our servicemen and women, just like in a regular store!

The cards go in and we pack the boxes as tightly as we can without tearing them!  This way they don't get damaged in shipping.

Once in the boxes, the counting begins.  Counting?  Yes, we have to take a count of the number of cards in each box!

This count goes on the custom declaration form and we are accountable to the IRS, too (did we tell you we count YOUR cards and card fronts that you donate to us as well?  We count everything!)

This is a very time consuming process, but well worth the effort that ALL OF US put into this - from those of you who make cards and send them on, to those of you who tirelessly plan and put on events for the public to make cards and donate them to From Our Hearts, to those of you who take the time to write us a note and include a cash donation - all of OUR efforts result in what you see here - boxes of cards headed to chaplains in Iraq and Afghanistan, to be distributed to our servicemen and women serving our country.

We thank you; this is a labor of love and we appreciate all that you are doing to make this happen!

Small Changes and Big Thank Yous

We thank all of you who have donated cards, supplies and cash contributions and for those whose contributions we will yet receive. 

We have one significant change in our organization; Susan Kubira is no longer serving as a Board Member for From our Hearts.  We thank her for her service and all she has done to assist our cause.  We will miss her wit and humor on our blog as she most certainly has a gift of the written word!

Our contact information is now listed on the right sidebar of our blog, along with a new phone number and e-mail address to contact us.  We are hopeful that by posting this information, contacting us will be much easier than it has been in the past.  Additional helpful information will forthcoming in the near future.

From the Board of From Our Hearts, we thank all of you for your continued support of our mission - to get those much needed cards (and I can say this with honesty as our boxes of cards empty as fast as they are received - as our chaplains tell us) into the hands of as many servicemen and women as we can!Most of the boxes that are waiting to be sent are now filled with only holiday cards - and From Our Hearts is in need of all types of cards - New baby, Get well, Sympathy, Miss You - all types of what we call "general cards" - our servicemen and women use these every day and they are in demand.  Any type of card you would be able to find if you were to walk in to a store to purchase a card for any occasion - this is what our servicemen and women need.

New chaplains are requesting our boxes (and that is 250 cards!).  Sunday, September 13, From Our Hearts is sponsoring an event in Jefferson City for the public to stamp and make cards - last month, 400 cards were made - enough for almost 2 boxes - this month, 400 more will be prepared, ready to be stamped!  We'll be "filling the gap" with those that are needed the most.  400 lives overseas will be impacted.  As many will be touched here in the USA.  Many of you are planning and/or holding events like this and donating your cards.  We thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

We are making a difference, one card at a time.

. . . if it comes in here, it's gotta' go out of here . . .

Every week we show you all of the thousands of cards that come to us to be sent over to our Troops. We truly love what we get to do, getting the cards put in their new box home, filling out the customs form and hauling them over to the Post Office, so that our men and women serving our country, protecting our freedom, have an opportunity to connect with their loved ones. But they take up a lot of room at times, so we really need to move them very quickly, in the door and then out the door.

Which brings us to board member Tom Shea. He is always seen at our events, stamping and assembling cards that we making, supporting every event we have held. But one of his other contributions to our organization is that of special delivery person to the Post Office. After all, we wouldn't trust your cards to just anyone ! ! !

 

He does such a great job getting all of those babies on their way to Afghanistan and Iraq, about 3,000 of them this week alone. This is Tom, 10 boxes and the customs form headed to the Post Office.

Thank you Tom, for always helping us, no matter what the tasks or chores. You are a true gentleman and we are indebted to you for your valued service, always with a smile and willing attitude.