After 9-11 Carolyn Blashek, a mother of 2, "felt a passionate desire to help fight the war on terrorism." She first thought of joining the military, but at 46 she was too old. However, she volunteered to help at the military lounge in the LA airport. One chance encounter at the military lounge, had a profound effect on Carolyn.
" One day in March 2003, a soldier came into the office and broke down at her desk. He was on leave from a war zone for his mother's funeral, his wife had left him and his only child died as an infant--he had no one else in his life. "I'm going back over there; I don't think I'll make it back this time, but it really doesn’t matter because no one would even care” he told her. Right then Blashek realized that when bullets are flying, it's critical for troops to know that someone cares about them as an individual. That's when Operation Gratitude was born."
Right from the start Mrs. Blashek wanted to make sure Operation Gratitude was more than just another charity asking if you would write out a check to help them. She wanted to make it more personal, and so she went around to people she knew and those she didn't, asking them if they had anyone deployed who could use some extra TLC. She wanted to send them a care package. But not just any care package......it would include letters from appreciative citizens along with snacks and entertainment items.
What started as one person's effort from her dining room table, sending out 10 to 15 care packages per week, was turned into an organization that now sends out over 100,000 care packages a year. It was officially founded in March of 2003 and set up as a charitable organization doing military support. Operation Gratitude sends care packages and letters to U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Guantanamo Bay and Kosovo, as well as those on military ships all over the world.
" We hold two major campaigns per year at the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys: The Patriotic Drive in May and the Holiday Drive in October-December."
" Since November 2003, Operation Gratitude has conducted its packing Drives in the California Army National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California."
Operation Gratitude does one thing (care packages) and does it well. There is no way they could have grown to this large of an operation, be getting addresses straight from the commanders of our military themselves, and be able to send a box out for $11 filled with items with a value of $100, if they didn't know what they are doing! In addition to those main two drives, if a commander contacts them with an emergency need, the a shipment is sent out. To date, they have sent out 450,799 care packages! Just in a 6 year period.
Photo from Operation Gratitudes Holiday 2007 Care Package Drive - With music blaring, employees from Target, Disney, Warner Brothers, Boeing, Time Warner Cable and the California Escrow Association joined Service Members, Veterans, church and temple groups, schools, scouts and hundreds of new and returning volunteers to assemble and ship an unprecedented 19,596 care packages, averaging a staggering 1900 packages per hour, and bringing our overall tally to: 278,947 care packages sent to our troops! (Photo courtesy of Operation Gratitude)
How do they do this? ALL items going into the care packages are donated. They have an extensive list of big name sponsors (see site here and here). Space at the California Army National Guard is donated. They use priority mailing boxes from the U.S.P.S. which are free to anyone. (By "free" I mean the "empty box" can be obtained directly from your local post office or online at no charge to any person or company) Volunteers arrive at specific times throughout the year to prep, assemble and label the care packages. There are over 7000 local volunteers, not including those across the country who donate goods. Each box currently costs Operation Gratitude $11 with $9.85 of that amount going just towards postage costs, leaving not much to cover other expenses including "communications, storage, labels and forklift rental," to name a few. There are several ways in which Operation Gratitude is unique in the Military Support community: 1. We send at least 100,000 care packages every year 2. Each Operation Gratitude care package is personally addressed to a deployed service member 3. We are an all-volunteer organization 4. Our administrative expenses are less than 2% of our budget That is extremely impressive!! Not many 501(c)(3) organizations can even come close to saying that about their administrative expenses! " Our care packages contain an assortment of ~50 items, including snack foods (spices, hot and cold drink mixes, jerky, trail mix, energy bars, cookies, candy), T-shirts, hats, socks, personal cooling products, entertainment items (Computer Flash Drives, DVDs, CDs, cameras, international phone cards, small plush animals, games, novelties, stationary etc), personal care products (toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm, foot care products), as well as letters from caring adults and students around the country. The total value of the products included in each package is ~$100/per package." In addition to these standard care packages, there have been some very special care packages delivered over the years since Operation Gratitude has been in operation. 400,000th Care Package - 2 round trip tickets on AA airlines, a 5 day all inclusive vacation in Dominican Republic, gift cards and more. 300,000th Care Package - Keys to a new 2008 Jeep Liberty, with personalized paint job memorializing lost men in his unit. 250.000th Care Package - Keys to a new 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited. 200,000th Care Package - Keys to a new Dodge Caliber on May 30, 2007. 150,000th Care Package - DVD player plus a Hotel Vacation package. 100,000th Care Package - Tickets to NASCAR race for two. 50,000th Care Package - Tickets for two back-to-back trips, all expenses paid, for 2 people. Nobody likes a name dropper, right? Well tough! I am going to drop a few on you here, because they are some of the many folks who have come out to support Operation Gratitude.
(Photo courtesy of Operation Gratitude)
(Photo courtesy of Operation Gratitude) In this photo you can see Carolyn Blashek at the White House. She had been invited by former President and Mrs Bush in recognition of Operation Gratitude's hard work. She is standing on the right side, 3rd person in. (Photo courtesy of Operation Gratitude)
Gary Sinise, Ben Affleck, Patricia Heaton, Jay Kenneth Johnson, Kristian Altonso, Kathy Ireland, our military out in the California area, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, and on January 19, 2009 First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and 25 members of Congress and the Obama Administration joined 12,000 Operation Gratitude volunteers on the National Day of Service, to assemble 85,000 care kits for Operation Gratitude care packages.
Operation Gratitude deals in care packages. The gathering of their contents, including letters from all across the country, the assembly of the care packages and the mailing of these same care packages. Nothing else! They have not branched out into other areas of military support, rather they have stayed focused on one very important form, and have perfected their methods. Each package is addressed to an individual service member. They do not send a group of boxes over to one person to be handed out to others. This is not to say that an individual might not share his box with one or more of his buddies. So what is the big deal with each package being addressed to an individual?
Perhaps the impact is best described by Major General Mark Hertling, Commander, Multi-National Division-North, Iraq:
"What kind of difference has it made? Our Commanders made it a point to visit every single battalion and brigade during the three days surrounding Christmas. In every location, I saw numerous Operation Gratitude packages. Every soldier received a personalized note, some holiday cheer, and some treats. And you know what? It wasn't the gifts or the cards or the notes that made such an impression...it was the realization that someone cared about our soldiers as individuals, understood the importance of their mission and appreciated their sacrifice."
(Photo courtesy of Operation Gratitude)
And General Ray Odierno, Commanding, wrote in response to receiving his own care package from Operation Gratitude: “I would like to thank you not only for the package I received from OPERATION GRATITUDE, but also for all you do for each one of the dedicated men and women who serve our great Nation. I am truly humbled by the support you, your volunteers, and your generous sponsors have shown those who sacrifice so much for our country. Though our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines may protect our freedom, its people like all of you that give them the extra motivation to do the incredible job they do every day. Thank you once again, and God bless you all.
Enough said! Check them out for yourself. Operation Gratitude or http://www.opgratitude.com
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