Every minute of every day is always a good time to express our gratitude to our brave military members, but Valentine’s Day presents a special opportunity to surround them with love and show them that we care. According to Fox News, several nonprofit organizations across the country are hosting Valentine’s Day card drives so that we can send our best wishes to our incredible service members.
Operation Gratitude is a nonprofit organization based in California that sends cards and care packages to deployed troops, veterans, military families, and first responders all year long. Since 2003, they have sent over 3.3 million care packages to our brave service members. Though they prefer timeless cards, Operation Gratitude will try to send Valentine’s Day cards out for the holiday if they are received in time. Through their effort called Operation Gratitude’s Greeting Card Brigade, the organization also accepts handmade cards that are blank which they provide to service members so that they could send their own cards back to loved ones.
Georgia-based nonprofit, Hugs for Soldiers, is an organization that helps Americans send appreciative letters and cards to troops throughout the year. Hugs for Soldiers was founded in 2003 as a ministry of Duluth First United Methodist Church in Duluth, Georgia. Their mission is to bring “comforts from home” to make our soldiers’ days better and fill them with pride and encouragement. The team at Hugs for Soldiers recommends writing letters by hand and, after going through a screening process, they send them a few weeks prior to Valentine’s Day to ensure our servicemen and women receive them in time to celebrate the holiday.
The nonprofit organization Soldiers’ Angels will send Valentine’s Day cards to deployed troops and VA hospitals. Through their “Valentines for Veterans” campaign, store-bought cards, handmade cards, and individually wrapped candy may be sent to our brave military men and women. With their motto, “May no soldier go unloved,” Soldiers’ Angels is working hard to ensure soldiers feel the care and gratitude from the ones they serve.
Sending our appreciation through kind words to soldiers is among one of the greatest ways we can personally connect with them. Letting our military members know that we recognize the sacrifices they have made for us and our freedom is a sure way to make them feel loved and blessed, which will undoubtedly boost their morale. Though we cannot meet all of our nation’s heroes, we can share with them our endless gratitude for the extraordinary courage they have found within themselves to protect us, our country, and our freedom. On the holiday that we celebrate love, let us remember our soldiers whose love for America reaches into all of our hearts.