Members of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Second Baptist Church of Evanston, Ill., knew what they were doing when they chose Dorothy K. Barton as correspondence secretary: this woman is good with stamps and envelopes.
Every year, Barton faithfully addressed holiday cards to each of the 70 members of the auxiliary, earning goodwill but burning through a fair amount of postage. At about the time Barton was tallying the cost, she got an e-mail from a friend in Maryland who described her good feeling about sending holiday cards to disabled veterans.
Barton said she had “one of my one o’clock moments”— a flash of inspiration. After consulting the auxiliary and the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Mark A. Dennis Jr., the ladies of Second Baptist suddenly became “address unknown” in Barton’s book, and the entire group took up pens for Holiday Mail for Heroes.
“This is the very least we can do, to take two minutes out of our busy lives to say thank you,” Barton said. “I am not an e-mail person, so I still like it when I get a handwritten thank-you card.”
Last year, the Ladies Auxiliary signed about 100 cards for members of hte armed services. This year, the members will expedite delivery thought the Holiday Mail for Heroes project, co-sponsored by the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes Inc.
This year, the project has a nation-wide goal of 1 million cards, and the ladies of Second Baptist are going to step up, Barton said. Their goal: at least 500 holiday cards of all types.
“I don’t care what religious background a person is,” Barton said. “All I know is that person is a human being who deserves to know somebody in this country cares about him or her. I know there is a spirit that will go with these cards.”
From now until Dec. 10, you can send holiday cards to American service members, their families and veterans all over the world. Cards designed by members of the National Celebrity Cabinet of the American Red Cross are available at www.redcross.org/holidaymail. With a donation of $25, you can send a personalized celebrity card to our heroes and support the Service to Armed Forces provided by the American Red Cross.