Our Story

About

The primary goal of the Holiday Card Challenge and #cards2connect Programs is the collection and delivery of personalized, signed expressions of respect, caring, and gratitude to US Troops, Veterans, and Service Families, to decrease the airspace between the general public and our Military. Your personalized and signed greeting cards and letters reflect your genuine support and caring, respect and appreciation of our military heroes, letting them know that they are not alone during the winter holiday season and now throughout the year.

*** 2023 is the 5th year of our Nonprofit! 2023 is our 20th year of signing cards for our Warriors ! 2023 will be the year that we send our 1 MILLIONTH cards to our MIlitary and their families, with 995,000 having been sent in just the last 5 years! ***

2003

Nineteen years ago, Dr. Laura Landerman-Garber handed out Holiday Cards to her Family at Thanksgiving, asking them to write messages to our Military Heroes; it was to be their “ticket to turkey”!

2017

Flash forward to October 2017, when she became determined to send cards to a family friend aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and to each member of that Navy Aircraft Carrier, then deployed and out to sea.

After learning that there were 5,000 plus Military Personnel aboard, she created the Card Challenge and got word out through Social Media platforms, TV, newspaper, and hundreds of phone calls.

The response was spectacular and the cards poured in from Granite Staters, from preschoolers to Scouts to students to local VFW Chapters to NH Governor Sununu and from US Senators Shaheen and Hassan and Congresswomen Kuster and Shea-Porter.

Her goal was 5,000 but the final count was 17,000 cards for our Troops! The cards were boxed up and sent out and arrived to the Ship the weekend before Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza.

Laura promised a WWII Veteran that if she continued the Card Challenge in 2018, that she would send cards to all five Branches of our Military.
A promise is a promise and in the Spring of 2018, she formed a Nonprofit Corporation, HOLIDAY CARDS 4 OUR MILITARY NH CHALLENGE, to both spread the word across State Lines and to allow for tax-exempt donations as the postage costs were hefty.

2018

In 2018, Laura’s goal was 25,000 cards: 5,000 for each branch of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard).

Laura went to DC and met with Members of the US Senate and Congress and with military personnel from each of the Military Branches, brainstorming on how to achieve her goals.

She met in NH with Governor Sununu as well as NH Commissioner of Education, Frank Edleblut. The Department of Education created a YouTube Video, challenging every Student in the State to sign a card.

Laura visited schools and businesses as well as religious organizations, VFW Chapters, Lion and Rotary Clubs, talking with Scouts and artists, Hospital Marketing Department Staff and anyone who expressed an interest in sending care and respect to our deployed Troops.

Generous Grants from Eversource, Walmart, BAE, and Hannafords were awarded and donations from small businesses and private citizens were received. WMUR ABC Affiliate, WZID Manchester Radio Group and newspapers around the State covered the story of the Challenge.

The Associated Press (AP) picked up the story and word traveled around the Country, bringing in Cards from Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maryland, Colorado North Carolina, and Arkansas. Veterans groups including Veterans First Responders Health Care and Strive jumped on-board as did the First Responders around the State of NH.

The cards piled in boxes in Laura’s dining room, totaling close to 50,000 at final count. Cards were boxed up and mailed out to addresses around the World, to the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and the Army, all of whom serve to protect our Country’s freedoms and our safety.

December 2018

In December of 2018, Laura traveled again to Washington DC and met with US Senators Shaheen and Hassan and their Staff to both review the 2018 Challenge and to make plans for 2019. She also was honored by an invitation to the Pentagon by Lt. Col. J.J. Johnson (Air Force) after their extensive collaboration with the Card Challenge. Lt. Col. Johnson joined the Board of Directors of the Nonprofit as V.P. For Military and Veterans Affairs. He is a true partner to the Holiday Card Challenge and a central collaborative source for “everything military”!

Already planning for 2019, Laura and her Team started placing phone calls, writing letters, and meeting with potential participants directly after the 2018 Cards were shipped out to the Troops. Cards began to pour in in July and new partnerships have formed. The messages remained as heartfelt and genuine as ever, expressing profound appreciation to our troops. From our youngest card-signer to our cherished seniors, the Holiday Card Challenge for our Military had collected thousands of cards for the next coming season.

2019

In 2019, the Card Challenge went national!

The 2019 Challenge started right after the holidays with thousands of unsigned cards donated, each one ready to be signed in the upcoming year. “Christmas in July” activities and a spectacular kickoff event at Eversource in N.H. got things going and soon, cards started flowing in. US Senators Shaheen and Hassan, Congressional Representatives Kuster and Pappas, Governor Sununu and Mayors across New Hampshire once again supported the Challenge. Education Commissioner Edelblut contacted State Commissioners across the Country, challenging them to join in!

Every major US television Network and most Cable Channels covered the story of the Challenge and the Associated Press included the Challenge in newsprint from Coast to Coast. ( See our Media Corner to view these segments) Additionally, almost every Presidential Candidate signed cards as they visited N.H. during the Primary Season.

U.S Senator Maggie Hassan facilitated the Holiday Card Challenge being read into the U.S. Congressional Record!

The energy and enthusiastic support was phenomenal! Americans in over 45 States joined in to send holiday greetings to our beloved Warriors!

November, 2019

In November, 2019, Dr. Laura marshaled the forces. Friends, family, and neighbors worked together to proofread, count, bundle, box, and deliver over 100,000 holiday cards. More than 40 moving boxes. More than one ton of your love and caring and respect.

This was just the first wave. 75,000 more cards still awaited preparation and delivery!

With gratitude to the Hollis, N.H. Post Office, the cards were sent after hours of work and thousands of dollars in postage. The cards traveled the Globe by air, land, and sea to be delivered to our noble Warriors, all of whom are defending and protecting our freedoms.

In the end, 175,000 holiday cards were sent out in 2019. It is said that, “…it takes a village” and in 2019, that Village was one of a Nationwide outpouring of generous hearts and appreciation for our Troops.

2020

The New Year brought a “moment” of quiet but it was not for long. A Valentine’s Day Card Challenge was created for a N.H. Primary School and hundreds of love-filled cards were created and sent to an Air Force Base in Afghanistan. A WW2 Veteran in California put out his own Card Challenge and hundreds of more cards were sent from another N.H. Elementary School. Requests came in from States across the Country to aid with creating Card Challenges and several businesses sought out guidelines for company team- building Card Challenge activities.

With great honor, Dr Landerman-Garber received four American Flags that were flown over Military Bases as well as a US Embassy in appreciation of the thousands of card signers. It is hoped that those Flags will fly over schools and businesses, sharing the pride of supporting our Troops.

When COVID19 emerged as a global pandemic, plans for 2020 were uprooted and new ones put in place. Nothing would stop the energy and commitment behind the Challenge, the devotion to our deployed Warriors. Volunteers bundled cards at their homes, touch-free drop boxes are being set up, and cards were available for signing per the asking! Dr. Landerman-Garber and the thousands of cardsigners would carry out their mission no matter what. As of January 2021, 110,000 cards had been signed, bundled, and sent out. Keep those cards coming as every card counts.

2021

While the complexities of our times continued on, the nationwide dedication to support our Troops remained clear and simple: Our Warriors and their families deserve our appreciation and gratitude and the Card Challenges carried on to complete that mission! After January 6th, thousands of cards were sent to the U.S. National Guard who were stationed in the U.S. Capitol. An equal number of cards-of- care were mailed to U.S. National Guard across the Country who were assisting with the COVID vaccine rollout. Cards of appreciation were sent out to deployed Warriors, Troops in Basic Training, and to Veterans and Service Families to let them know that we were thinking of them! The Holiday Card Challenge has evolved into a year-long #cards2connect and #cards2REconnect commitment to our U.S.Military. It certainly became a surreal and inspiring journey since the grass roots beginnings in 2003.

The 2021 Holiday Card Challenge actually began on 12/26/20 when boxes of signed cards arrived with attached notes saying, “Please tuck these cards away for 2021!” The media coverage continued to spread the word as there was nothing like Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest cheering us on. ABC WMUR New Hampshire Chronicle featured the Challenge on a segment 8/18/21 and the from-the-heart stories shared by three of our U.S. Military Members spoke to the profound impact of receiving your cards while deployed and away from home.

Whether you are a 10 year old student in Northern Wisconsin, an international corporation with an active corporate social responsibility platform, a synagogue congregation in Portland Oregon, a dance studio in Nashville, Tennesse, or a Blue Star Family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, thousands joined in for the first time or as a “repeat customer”! Our collective mission, now more than ever, was and is to remain connected to one another and to share-the-care with our Warriors who are defending our Country’s freedoms and safety.

As one five year old wrote, “IT IS ALWAYS GOOD TO SAY THANK YOU TO SOMEONE WHO DOES GOOD THINGS FOR AMERICA”.

2022

The 2022 Card Challenges actually started on December 26, 2021 when your cards started to arrive for the 2022 Challenges! By July, 20,0000 Holiday Cards were already packed up and waiting for the Winter Holiday Season!

In the meantime, the 2nd annual “Happy Valentines Day” Mini-Challenge yielded 5,000 cards of love for our Troops, Veterans, & Military Families. And soon after, 7,000 “Happy Spring” Cards arrived and were sent around the Globe. The feedback was wonderful as our Warriors love to hear from you ALL YEAR LONG!

When a call came in from a high ranking Military Officer asking if we might be able to send cards of support to displaced Ukrainian families and their families members still in the Ukraine defending their freedoms, we stepped up as did you and 1,500 beautiful messages of care were sent out. Both the children their families sent messages back, thanking the many Americans who remembered them in the messages of encouragement.

Hand delivering your #cards2connect, your messages of gratitude and support to the MIlitary Staff at the USA Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel was spectacular! Being with them thousands of miles away from home and seeing their joy at receiving your messages as well as the many boxes of donated Girl Scout Cookies was heartwarming to say the least. Our Warriors Serve to protect our freedoms all over the World; each of your cards makes a proud impact!

Always keeping our MIlitary Families in mind, some quilters in Maryland and New Jersey offered to make baby blankets for newborns born on MIlitary Bases, wanting them to know that although they just arrived so to speak, that in their own way, they Serve as well. Hence, #Blankets4BabiesOnBases was “born” and the new parents’ smiles upon seeing their infants wrapped in love said it all!

In September, we launched the “WHAT IS YOUR WHY” campaign, wanting to know WHY you join in and WHY you engage in community service. We challenge you to make a selfie video in three sentences or less to answer WHAT IS YOUR WHY? Post it on our Facebook Page, HOLIDAY CARD CHALLENGE! Your answers may just inspire others to join in as well as to clarify for yourself WHY you made the choice to send care and cheer to our Warriors and their families!

We heard your requests for more feedback from the card recipients and so we created a QR code that was sent with all your cards and messages! It allowed the Troops and their Families to scan, take a selfie holding your cards, and load it directly to our Facebook Page. It continues to be wonderful to see their smiling faces!

Whether your are joining in for the first time or the 19th time, we are excited to see your cards and letters and to send them to our Warriors, wherever they may be. If one of our goals is to decrease the airspace between the general public and those who Serve, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

228,000 Cards of Holiday Cheer were sent out and by the end of 2022, another 25,000 were received and tucked away for 2024!

2023

*2023* 2023*2023*. A BIG YEAR for the HOLIDAY CARDS 4 OUR MILITARY CHALLENGE!!

Our 20th year of signing cards! Our 5th year since forming our 501c3 nonprofit! We will be sending out our 1 MILLIONTH card in 2023, noting that 995,00 of those have been sent out in the last 5 years!

A FEW FACTS:

2003: The Landerman-Garber Familiy established a new holiday tradition to write holiday cards of gratitude to our Troops every Thanksgiving. Writing the cards was their “Ticket for Turkey!” For 14 year, the family , neighbors, and friends created cards of holiday cheer and sent them to Troops and Veterans, totaling approximately 5,000 Cards!

2017: The Holiday Card Challenge was formed and 17,000 cards were sent to the USS Theodore Roosevelt! An amazing and certainly unexpected outpouring of community support for our Warriors! A conversation was had with a WW2 Marine who made Laura promise to send cards to all Branches if she continued this passion project!

2018: The 501c3 Nonprofit “HOLIDAY CARDS 4 OUR MILITARY NH CHALLENGE” was formed and from there, the story is one of legends, how one small idea and dream can grow in to an international effort to support our Troops, Veterans, and Military Families through the simple gift of a greeting card.

2018-2023 Facing a global Pandemic, complex challenges across the Country and so much more, the Holiday Card Challenge Community bonded together and had a laser vision of our mission; that is, we are all going to support our Warriors and their families, letting them know that we are thinking about them, grateful for their Service, and that we collectively are going to both send a “taste” of home and act as a “bridge” to home no matter their location.

#everycard counts and #ittakesavillage have become two core beliefs within the Holiday Card Community! Americans (Canadians, Mexicans, and Europeans!) have jumped in to write cards, to volunteer in countless ways for hundreds of hours, have financially partnered with us, joined the Sponsored-A -Box Program, held events to promote the mission, and have embraced the #dogoodfeelgood philiposphy!

Has it been a wild ride as they say? Yes! Is it surreal to meet World Leaders and International Celebrities? Yes! Is it stunning to literally see ONE MILLION cards over the years? You bet! But the very best part of this journey is our Holiday Card Community, all you have poured your heart into it, have given more hours than I can count, have donated your hard earned money, have spread the word of gratitude and community service in your own way, and have joined in to decrease the airspace between our Warriors and all of us, giving them our care, support, and gratitude

LETS GET THIS 2023 HOLIDAY CARD CHALLENGE PARTY STARTED!

Please join us to make this a banner year! Your cards will touch hearts and bring smiles and your donations and partnerships will make it all happen and get the job done!!

Cards Delivered

About Laura

Dr. Laura Landerman-Garber is first and foremost a daughter, wife, mother and grandmother fiercely devoted to supporting and loving her extended family.

Laura’s philosophy of life has long been guided by two of her favorite quotes:

“I keep my ideals because in spite of everything I still believe that people are good at heart.”
Anne Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank)

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

These messages, along with others by the same two authors provide much of the energy behind my unstoppable optimism, drive, and determination.

My career as a clinical psychologist has also provided a backdrop to my commitment to helping others and raising awareness of the importance of kindness, compassion, connectedness, and not just tolerance but acceptance of others. Community service was a central part of my childhood and I hope that I have -in creating the Military Holiday Card Challenge Or Cards2Connect Challenge – carried that message of giving to the next generation.

I genuinely enjoy the opportunity to assist anyone who wants to create a local Military Holiday Card And/or Cards2Connect Challenge or frankly, who just wants to sign one single card. I believe that “Every Card Counts” rules the day. I’m as grateful for one card signed with genuine caring as I am for 1,000 signed cards.

I’m open to your ideas and suggestions about how to best achieve the Military Holiday Card and Cards2Connect Challenge goals!

The veterans and service families that I have met through the Card Challenge have changed my life. Stories of dedication, loyalty and sacrifice have been inspiring, sometimes prompting laughter and sometimes prompting tears. It is the very thought of our deployed troops receiving a hand written message of holiday cheer and support that drives me to continue the Card Challenge each year.

In 2017, I met a Vietnam Veteran who still carries with him a card that he received from a child when he was in Vietnam 50 years ago. He said that that single message brought him comfort and hope as well as the knowledge that there was someone back home in the States who was thinking of him during his darkest hours.

On 8/18/21, WMUR ABC New Hampshire Chronicle featured a segment on the Holiday Card Challenge. It certainly was an honor to share the story with the viewers but the most inspiring part was to hear from three of our beloved US Military Members who themselves received cards while away from home during Service. They spoke poignantly about your cards and the profound impact the messages of care had on them and their Brothers and Sisters in Uniform.

A “cold call” (Who knew I was calling the US Pentagon?!) in 2017 led to a now forever friendship and partnership with Lt. Col. JJ Johnson USAF. Together, with a fierce and dedicated group of volunteers and donors, we have taken the Card Challenge from a family tradition to an international passion project! Please join us in this surreal journey, where we dream big!

If that one card after all these years continues to have such a profound impact on that soldier and our Troops still talk about the impact that your cards of care and connection had on them, then the least that I can do is to carry on their mission and invite all to join in.

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