BJ’s Wholesale Club challenged the community to write personalized letters for deployed troops throughout May in celebration of Military Appreciation Month, and with the help of Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit organization that sends care packages and personalized letters to servicemen overseas, they collected 108,816 letters.
“This is the largest collection of letters we have ever received at one time,” said Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude. “I was absolutely thrilled because we had no idea we would get so many letters through the campaign.”
The mission of Operation Gratitude is to lift morale, to bring a smile to a service member’s face and to express the appreciation and support of the American people, according to the nonprofit’s Web site. And since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude has shipped more than 520,000 packages to American Military overseas.
Blashek, who gained inspiration for Operation Gratitude after meeting a soldier who felt he had no reason to make it home from deployment, said every care package sent for the rest of the year will have at least two letters from the campaign, reminding soldiers overseas that people back home support and care for them.
“These letters let them know that someone was thinking about them personally,” she said. “It lets them know that they are not just a number.”
In addition to the letters collected, BJ’s Charitable Foundation will also donate $50,000 to the nonprofit to help defray the cost of shipping the packages.
“BJ’s Wholesale Club is extremely proud of the tremendous response from our club members, team members and Operation Gratitude, who together collected more than 100,000 letters,” said Laura Sen, president and CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club, in an e-mail. “We are deeply pleased that so many U.S. Service Members will receive personal letters showing our sincere thanks and admiration.”
Each package sent by Operation Gratitude contains snacks and entertainment items – valued around $125 – and, of course, the personal letters of appreciation.
“U.S. Service Members who receive our care packages tell me that they cherish personal letters and keep them close to their hearts – both in combat and when they return home,” Blashek said. “These personal letters will lift morale and put many smiles on the faces of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines deployed overseas.”
For more information on Operation Gratitude, visit www.operationgratitude.com.
