From Our Hearts

Mary Ellen Holds Event For From Our Hearts

In August, Mary Ellen C from Wood River, Illinois, held a card making event for From Our Hearts - generating several hundred Christmas and other occasion cards.

Mary Ellen is an avid supporter of From Our Hearts, holding events on a regular basis.  This was the first time she held one for the public - holding it at the Roxana, Illinois library.

Susan T, From Our Hearts' VP of Operations, was able to attend and lend support.

They knocked out many, many beautiful cards!  We thank the following for their support of the event:

• The United Presbyterian Church, Wood River, IL
• Office Max - Wood River, IL
• Marks Mortuary - Wood River, IL
• Office Depot - Alton, IL
• Roxana Public Library - Roxana, IL

Our heartfelt thanks to Mary Ellen for arranging this event and for her on-going support of From Our Hearts!

From Roxana, IL, Loretta M attended the event and donated 161 holiday cards.

Beautifully made, these cards are already on their way overseas!

Our thanks to Loretta for her contribution!

Julie Holds Another Card Making Event

We cannot say enough good things about Julie, our volunteer in Sugar Grove, IL - Julie has been supporting From Our Hearts for several years.  And when she told us she was holding an event for the public, we made the decision to help her - yes, Martie and Susan traveled to Sugar Grove and attended her event.  We were not let down!  Many showed up to help stamp and assemble cards.

Julie, as is her "mission" collected many supplies to donate to our cause.

st
Stamp sent, card stock, pens, everything we need and can use, and she donated envelopes and clear envelopes, too.

And the cards?  We brought back 627 cards (saved her shipping) and $100 in cash donations, too!

Many, many Christmas cards were made that day.

And we need them!  With 38 contacts that receive our boxes, we appreciate all these holiday cards.

Our thanks to our volunteer in Sugar Grove, Julie, for holding this event and for all she does for From Our Hearts!

And, Sherri, one of Julie's donators, gave us 124 cards -

We thank Sherri!

And Karen W arrived with her own donation of 200 cards!

Our thanks to Karen and Sherri for their contributions and to Julie, for holding this event, resulting in so many cards for our cause!

Bev P Holds FOH Event In Shiloh, IL

. . . and From Our Hearts showed up to help.  Our thanks to the Drury Inn who donated their ballroom - it was perfect for holding this event.  Bev is a long-time supporter of our troops, sending cards to them even before From Our Hearts came into existence.  Several years ago, Bev shared some of her contacts with us - and we help one another in our effort!  We know how much our cards are appreciated by our service men and women -

The event yielded 1,200 cards and here is a sampling of the cards that were made by so many who showed up to help.

We were very pleased with their effort!

While Susan T helped created cards with cards that Mary Ellen C brought, and Bev helped those who showed up, Martie "stuffed" each and every card - we each had our "job" to do.

1200 cards later and nearly $200 raised for our shipping costs, we think the event was a success!  We wish to thank the following individuals who supported Bev with funds which she used to purchase supplies - and we thank Bev for her contribution to the effort, too:

• Amy E - O'Fallon, Il
• Kathleen W -
• Chuck C - O'Fallon, IL
• Paulette D - Collinsville, IL
• Beth E - Merrimack, NH
• Ted M - Billerica, MA
• Don W - Fenton, MO
• Gloria W - Chesapeake, VA
• James C - O'Fallon, IL
• Angela M - Fernandina Beach, FL
• Ann W - Odessa, FL
• Cheryl H - Belleville, IL

We are not finished!  We received several donations of "ready" made cards from individuals who came to help.

Peggy D, O'Fallon, Il gave us 172 cards, 145 card fronts and several envelopes and clear envelopes, too.

Thinking of you, thank you, get well and many more all occasion cards were in here box!  Thanks Peggy!

Jan H, also from O'Fallon, gave us a donation of 107 cards, 227 card fronts (already sent to our volunteers who turn them into cards), and several clear envelopes, too.

Here is a sample of her cards - nice, nice!

Our thanks to Jan for her contribution!

And from Belleville, IL, Danyle B gave us many cards made with Stampin' Up!® MDS - computer generated cards - and each one the same -

Thank yous made with a yellow ribbon-

We thank Danyle for making these cards - (and for her help with the "stuffing") and to all who showed up to make 1,200 cards and to Peggy and Jan for bringing cards we took back - and especially to Bev for putting on this event!

Boxes Received This Past Week

 Our heartfelt thanks to the following individuals who sent us boxes or donated to our cause this past week:

Dacia S (Love Notes) - Winston-Salem, NC

Brie L - Jefferson City, MO

Samuel F Gearhart Detachment, Marine Corps League - Jefferson City, MO

Terry Martin (Jefferson City, MO) and his students at Willliam Woods University (Fulton, MO)

Mary M - Peru, IN

An anonymous contributor from Hyattsville, MD

Pam L - Jefferson City, MO

Sue S - Holts Summit, MO

Cindy C - Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Teresa Z (Operation Kitsap) - Silverdale, WA

Kristina C - Reno, NV

Fran K - Piedmont, AL

Georgia M - Fairview Heights, IL

Dorinda C - Jefferson City, MO

Faye K - Manhattan, KS

Peggy S - Clayton, NC

We thank all who have helped us this week!

Card Making Event in MO Results In Beautiful Christmas Cards

Martinburg Bank, Hallsville MO Event

From Our Hearts was contacted and asked to put on a stamping event at the Martinsburg Bank located in Hallsville, MO, just a short drive north of Jefferson City.  The goal:  500 cards.  Susan T and Martie prepared card kits for the event using donated card stock, paper, ribbon, stamp sets and inks - and as is our custom, we prepared more than 500, just in case.  It was a good thing we did!

About 20 individuals, men and women both, came out to help support the troops and our effort.  They stamp and assembled cards for about 4 hours.

A friend and local volunteer, Becky (below), went with us to help out - and we appreciated the help!

They got busy, had fun and the result? Nearly 900 cards!

Our many thanks to Anna J for coordinating this event for us.

We prepared many different types of cards - some 20 or 25 of the same type and some, nearly 90!

We fill in with the types of cards that we are running low on -

- usually miss you, thinking of you and general all occasion cards, but it all depends upon the supply of card stock and paper on hand.

This time, we were able to make sympathy, best wishes and many more all occasion cards.

This one (below) was very simple to make, and sometimes, more "simplistic" they are, the better they turn out! - this was a design creation from Susan.

Our thanks to Susan, Becky, Anna and all who turned out to help stamp and assemble the cards, and who donated cash to help us with the cost of shipping and stampin' dimensionals - we don't get these donated to us - and we need to add this to our "wish list" of items as we go through so many of them!

Dixon High School Community Service Donate Over 7,000 Cards!

Meet Marissa H:

Marissa is one special young lady.  From Dixon, CA, and formerly from Texas, Marissa coordinated la second BIG shipment of cards for our troops - last year, if you've followed our blog, you'll remember over 5,000 cards arrived from the Brennen Bears (in Texas) - thanks to Marissa.

And without warning, 7,538 cards arrived from Marissa - 16 boxes (below are just a few of them)

Marissa writes:  "I am writing on behalf of the Dixon HIgh School Community Service Club in Dixon, CA.  We are very excited to be able to help with your overseas card project.  Our DHS Community Service Club has taken on the goal of making 5,000 cards for your organization to send to soldiers overseas.  Being a military daughter who has had a parent deployed, I feel this is a wonderful cause, as do my fellow club members.  We are very excited to take on this goal and feel we can definitely meet our goal this year.  Our senior center art club has enjoyed helping assemble cards to send to you as well."

The club exceeded their goal by over 2,000 cards!  And the seniors helped to assemble them - we photographed some of the many, many cards they made.

We were thrilled to see the variety they made.

Each box we opened had an inventory sheet so we knew exactly what was inside, for example, 70 "friends", 177 "just a note", 200 "just because"...

. . . holiday cards!

Marissa e-mailed us some photos of the "work in progress" -

Imagine each one of these card kit made by the students - and ready to assemble by the students and the seniors!

The cards are well done and each one "box ready" with their own customized slip - and how we appreciate the extra step they took to get them ready to ship over.

Our heartfelt thanks to Marissa for organizing such a big project, for the members of the Dixon High School Community Service Club, and to the Seniors who helped with the assembly!

Students Council Members Stamp For the Troops

From Our Hearts received the following e-mail, and a box arrived in the mail a few days later . . .

From our Hearts,

Janice C and 26 students from the Roosevelt Middle School Student Council in Cedar Rapids, Iowa made 259 cards for From Our Hearts as a service project. They are on their way via the postal service. The students have also included a $15 donation to assist with shipping. Thanks to Cindy F, student council coordinator and Autumn P, principal for their support.

Attached are a couple of photos.

PS The kids really loved the snail adhesive :)

Thanks to the effort of Jan C, Cedar Rapids, IA, the box arrived safely!  And the pictures tell the story.

The students were hard at work -

Making all 259 cards - and they are GREAT cards!

Proudly showing off one of her creations, the students look like they were having a great time, for a great cause, too!

With proper guidance, kids do a great job in creating cards for our troops -

And the Roosevelt Student Council took their task seriously, producing beautiful cards, while having some fun, too!

Here are some of the cards they made:

Birthday, Love You,

a card with a bookmark that says "you are priceless"

thinking of you, and even some wedding and anniversary cards were among those created.

The event was held on 4/20 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.  26 students participated during the day.  The students even contributed a cash donation to mail the cards overseas.

We thank the students and Cindy F, the Student Council coordinator, Autumn P, the school principal, and of course, Jan C, for coordinating this event for From Our Hearts!

Cards Arrive From Operation Kitsap Kards and Love Notes

From Our Hearts received an e-mail from Teresa Z:

Our group of ladies (Operation Kitsap Kards) held a card workshop this past Tuesday. We focused mainly on Mother and Father's day cards but there are other categories from birthday, Fourth of July, thinking of you to hello cards. All cards are in clear envelopes with inserts included and are sorted by category.

The box is being mailed priority today so should arrive no later than Wed.

I have included a few photos as attachments of some of the cards that were made.

The box arrived, and we found a note from Diane W: "This is the 3rd time our small group of ladies (we had 8) from WA state has made cards for From Our Hearts.  We decided we should have a name & came up with Operation Kitsap Kards. . . All of us from Operation Kitsap Kards thank all of you at From Our Hearts for doing this for our troops."  And we say "you are welcome" and "thank you!", for without the support of individuals and groups such as Operation Kitsap Kards, no cards would be going over to our troops!

136 cards were in the box they mailed to us from Bremerton, WA.  They made Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthday, love you, thank you, thinking of you, and more.  Our thanks to the ladies of Operation Kitsap Kards!

Dacia S and "Love Notes", Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC stamped and mailed 523 cards!

We found 507 Mother's Day cards and the rest Easter, Birthday, Thank You . . .

and a few Christmas cards, too.

Our many, many thanks to Dacia and the Love Notes for their continued support!

 

Columbia, MO State Relief Society Stamps

This is the second year that the Columbia, MO Stake Relief Society has asked From Our Hearts for help in putting on a card making session for the troops.  Held in March, and organized by Anne H, below, nearly 1,500 cards were designed, prepped and delivered to Columbia for an afternoon of stamping.

Held from 1-3:30, the ladies not only had stamping opportunities, but many other community service activities and learning workshops to attend.  In between, the ladies stamped.

Each table held a different card and the ladies came and went - some stayed for nearly the entire time.

The cards were designed by Susan T (From Our Hearts) and Anne H, both seasoned stampers.  Sue S, one of FOH's local volunteers, helped us that day (below, on the right) as many ladies had never stamped or assembled cards.

And a good time they had!  They produced beautiful cards.

This is a close up of one card that was made using fabric flowers.

Every finished card was taped up and displayed for all to see -

These are samples of the 20 different Mother's Day cards, 4 varieties of Father's Day cards and 6 others - love you, miss you, thinking of you, and birthday, that were made:

We thank the ladies of the Columbia, MO Stake Relief Society for choosing From Our Hearts as one of their service projects, and for supporting us with a financial contribution to cover the material costs - and perhaps we'll see all of you next year!