Contributed by Brenna Rath
When Angie Wellborn took her young daughter for a treat at Vagabond Blues, in Palmer, she had no idea that it would lead to her daughter requesting a lot more than cocoa and cookies. On December 5th she shared the following on FB:
"It started as a lovely treat at Vagabond with my precocious 1st grader. We were discussing her brother, who is stationed on the USS America, would not be able to come home for Christmas and how most of the service men and women may not be able to fly home. Her already saddened face turned to concerned when she, suddenly, perked up with, "I know, maybe, we can send all the sailors a Christmas card?"
I'm pretty sure I bit off more than I can chew when I agreed! I proceeded to message the Commander and her teachers at school.
Monday, her teacher told me that they set some time aside this Friday (half day) to have their classes help us accomplish this endeavor.
Tuesday, I reached out to the commander, a second time, to obtain permission and verify details. The commander responded and informed me that there are over 1000 service men and women aboard and they would need to be mailed by Tuesday the 11th to get there in time for Christmas.
I have several donations coming in but, could use some more ideas (and maybe some donations?) to make this Christmas wish come true!
Thank you for reading this all the way through"
Angie commutes daily to her full time job, and supports her kids at home on their activities. She juggles all the other day to day tasks we all do. Gathering 1,000 or more cards in a week seemed unlikely. Bolstered by her daughter's spirit of generosity, she never faltered in her belief that as a community, we could reach this goal. My kids had already written a few cards, but one comment on Angie's FB post, from a local service member, motivated all of us to write more. (Photo of comment included.) It inspired one of my kids to write longer letters on paper, tucked into the cards, so sailors could fold them and keep them if they wanted. My youngest helped by decorating blank stationary and signing his name, letting me write letters around his art. Friends who visited would fill out a card. My brother, my mom, my grandmother - all added inscriptions to a card or helped the kids write notes. Though seemingly small, if these letters can boost morale, they're more than worth the time taken to write them. We'll be handing them off to Angie tomorrow, but the memory of participating in this community effort is exactly the kind of Christmas spirit I hope my children carry with them forever. I'm proud of Angie for following through, and glad to live in a community that joined her effort.
If you're bummed that you didn't hear about this project in time to contribute, I've got good tidings for you: writing to service members isn't just a Christmas thing. There are always service members who would love to hear from you!
