How To Send Christmas Cards To The Military

Last year the American Red Cross made a change to their Holiday Mail For Heroes program, but many people are still sharing outdated info on social media - here are the correct, updated details.

The Holiday Mail for Heroes program has become Holidays for Heroes. You can drop off your cards at any participating Red Cross office. You can also mail them, but there is no longer one national address to send all the cards, so contact your local Red Cross chapter to see if they are participating in the Holidays for Heroes program! Find your local chapter here.

You can send both cards and banners, but the American Red Cross wants you to remember some guidelines:

Holiday Cards

• Ensure all cards are signed and please provide cards without envelopes, or in unsealed envelopes.
• Use generic greetings such as “Dear Service Member”, “Dear Veteran”, or “Dear Military Family” and write your best wishes for the holidays and a heartfelt thank you for their service. Use your own words – it means a lot.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
• Cards can be purchased or homemade.

Holiday Banners

• Banners should be sturdy enough to be shipped overseas and large enough to be viewed when hung on a wall.
• Your banner should include your main message to either Veterans or Service Members, and then be filled up with individual messages of best wishes from your members or employees – the more the better!
• Banners will be rolled up for shipment, so please- no posters or laminated banners.

The deadline for dropping off or mailing your cards is December 8th, 2017!

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