Card signing guidelines

Please follow these guidelines when instructing participants how to sign cards. These guidelines will help to assure that all cards are acceptable to the United States Postal Service for shipping and to the military.
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1. Please address the card to “Dear Warrior”. Be respectful and polite.

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2. Write a holiday greeting, keeping in mind that our Troops are diverse in their holiday practices and beliefs.

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3. Write a personal note. For example: How do you celebrate the holidays? What are your family memories of holidays?

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4. Sign your first name ONLY and the town and state where you live.

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5. If you are or have been in the Military, or a member of a club, or an elected official or a First Responder, please consider including that information in your Card.

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6. If your card is homemade, please keep the size to no larger than an 8 x 11 size paper folded in half.

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7. If you have an envelope, please do NOT seal it. Do not be concerned if you do not have an envelope!

For Schools

Guidelines and support for students and school personnel (These guidelines also work for business/organizations)

Thank you for your interest in the Holiday Card Challenge for our Military! Your contribution makes a real difference to the morale and spirits of our warriors abroad.

Students from preschool through college create the most heartfelt messages for our warriors. In 2018, New Hampshire students and teachers alone  provided 30,000 holiday cards!

In 2019, the New Hampshire Commissioner of Education challenged all New Hampshire schools to participate and -more recently- invited every school across the United states to participate in this program. To date (2022) all 50 States have a sent in holiday cards for our military, resulting in tens of thousands of cards of holiday cheer!

2020  brought  its own challenges with the Pandemic. Schools across the Country, whether in remote, hybrid , or in-school education joined in and sent tens of thousands of cards. I applaud the teachers and students for their generous hearts amidst such complex times.

2021 was a success with 138,000 cards sent out!

2022 is up and running with 18,000 cards already received, sorted and ready for Fall 2022 mailings. Summer schools, camps, civic organizations, and businesses are hosting summer card signings, recognizing that it is ALWAYS a good time to write holiday cards!

 Please feel free to contact me at holidaycardsnh@gmail.com and I will brainstorm with you to create a Holiday Card Challenge for your students,  (or business) be they once again in remote, hybrid, or full-in-school learning setting! If you are interested in having your school join in on a #cards2connect Challenge for our Veterans and/or Troops  throughout the year, let me know!  Thank you !

NOTE: I have a one-page-go-to guideline that I am happy to send to you! 

Join the Holiday Cards for our Military Challenge!

Here's how:

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1. E-mail parents asking for donations of never-used holiday cards and blank greeting cards.

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2. Establish a collection box in the school lobby or front office. Include a contribution deadline and remind parents (via e-mail) when just weeks remain.

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3. Purchase holiday cards very inexpensively at the local Dollar Store.

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4. Make creating holiday cards from scratch an art project. It can be as simple as a piece of paper folded in half!

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5. Enlist a student service group to orchestrate the card challenge in your school.

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6. Dedicate specific homeroom/advisory times to discuss the purpose of the Card Challenge, the importance of our military, and the sacrifices of our warriors. Use the time to write cards.

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7. Post these guidelines and writing prompts on a board, in the halls or send home in fliers.

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8. Enlist a student group/teachers to review completed cards for appropriateness.

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9. Make public how many cards each class/your school collected. Challenge yourselves to collect even more next year!

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10. Some schools create healthy competitions between classes or districts have schools compete to collect more cards. Enlist local merchants (e.g., pizza restaurants) to sponsor teams.

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11. Box completed cards and deliver to the local drop station or ship to Laura in New Hampshire for delivery overseas.

WRITING PROMPTS

Use your mouse to highlight these prompts, right click and then COPY from this webpage and PASTE to your classroom handout to help your students or paste into an email to be sent home to encourage family participation.

My favorite holiday tradition is…

I love the holidays because…

My favorite part of the holidays is…

Where I live, we celebrate by…

I know someone in the Military…

This year, I wish for a…

My holiday wish for you is…

In my family, we always …. during the holidays

My favorite sport is…

I have a pet named…

When I grow up, I want to…

In my free time, I…

I appreciate what you do because…

I celebrate… and we like to…

Drop places

Where can I drop off completed cards in New Hampshire?

It is 2022 and there are some card drop-off stations across the State of New Hampshire. Some of the  Drop Stations have free cards for you to sign.  NOTE: If you would like to set up a Challenge drop-box in your location, please let me know !

INFO TO COME about dates of more drop stations for the 2022 Holiday Card CHallenge 

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, drop stations may be different then in past years.

There is always a touch-free drop box and free cards  outside the Hollis Pharmancy and General Store in Hollis, New Hampshire. 

Drop Stations in 2021 included Fulchino Vineyard (Hollis Free cards), All Franklin Savings across the NH, All People’s United Banks  across NH (Free cards), Litchfield Town Hall ( Town Clerk), Mayor Joyce Craig Manchester City Hall (Free cards), WOKQ Radio Station in Dover (Free cards), Sals Pizza in Concord (Free cards Storrs St.), Congressman Chris Pappas Offices in Manchester and Dover, NH (Free cards), all three YMCA of Greater Nashua- Nashua YMCA on Stadium Drive, Merrimack YMCA on Henry Clay Drive & Westwood Park YMCA on NW Blvd (Free cards),  Salem NH Walmart on Broadway (If you do not see a drop box, ask at the Customer Service Center for Heidi or Corey), East Kingston Library and more to come 

If this is not convenient for you and /or you live out-of-State, please mail signed holiday cards and blank card donations to Dr. Landerman-Garber at the address bellow.

Laura Landerman-Garber
Holiday Card Challenge
PO Box 103
Hollis, New Hampshire 03049

NOTE: UPS and FEDEX may not deliver to a PO BOX. In that case, mail your cards to: 

Laura Landerman-Garber HolidayCard Challenge 

5 Hutchings Drive 

Suite 100  Unit 103

Hollis, NH 03049 

Please email Laura at holidaycardsnh@gmail.com with any questions and/or comments/suggestions.

Deadlines

Our annual goal is to deliver your warm holiday wishes to active duty military in all six branches of the U.S. service in time for the winter holidays.

Boxing and shipping takes time. That means that we need to set deadlines well in advance of the holidays.

The first 2022 general deadline for delivery of signed cards is OCTOBER 31st.   HOWEVER,  please continue to send your cards in after the deadline as we now send more cards to domestically deployed Troops and those mailing dates can be extended into even early December! The October 31 deadline applies mostly to those cards to be sent overseas.   There are still plenty of opportunities to join in to support our Troops and our Veterans. Schools, companies, families,  and groups create Challenges during the year now for any variety of Holidays or “just” to send caring cards of connection.Please contact Dr. Landerman-Garber at holidaycardsnh@gmail,com and she will make sure that your cards reach our Troops!!

NOTE: Your efforts to work within these limits are appreciated. Many groups, especially schools, have card signing events around Veterans Day. Those events are very special in their own right and those cards that are signed during the events will surely be included!  As noted above, feel free to  contact Dr. Landerman-Garber in case your time table for signing cards is outside the general deadline as she will make sure your wonderful cards will be sent to our Warriors.

Become a Supporter

Donate Now
Holidays Cards for our Military Challenge is a 501C3 non-profit corporation registered in New Hampshire, USA. Contact Laura Landerman-Garber (President) for further information.

Contacts

Quick Links

Promoting the Challenge, purchasing, boxing and shipping holiday greetings by the ton around the globe costs money.

Monetary donations in support of these and related costs will be gratefully received.

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