Vet News: Operation Gratitude Collects for Troops at Army/Navy Game with Help from UPS and GalleryCollection.com

For the fourth year, Operation Gratitude will join thousands of Cadets, Midshipmen, alumni, parents, sponsors and fans at he 109th Army/Navy Game, to be held at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field this Saturday, December 6, 2008.

As part of the Army/Navy Game festivities, fans and Philadelphians are rallying to give back to the troops through Operation Gratitude.

Collection boxes will be located at the entrances of Lincoln Financial Field on game day and at the Army/Navy Salute at Penn’s Landing all weekend long. The Philadelphia Sports Congress is teaming with UPS to collect items for the care packages, including non-perishable snack foods, DVDs, CDs and Beanie Babies. UPS will deliver all donations to Operation Gratitude’s headquarters in Van Nuys, California.

In addition, Prudent Publishing’s GalleryCollection.com, the leading personalized Christmas cards and corporate Holiday cards publisher in the nation, donated 28,000 holiday cards to distribute at the Army/Navy Game, encouraging fans to write personal letters of appreciation to service members. The cards will be delivered via the Operation Gratitude care packages that will be assembled and shipped the weekend of December 13-14.

Holiday cards will also be available for personalization at several Philadelphia hotel welcome tables, the Army/Navy Gala held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on December 5, and Penn’s Landing.

"The Army/Navy Game is a great American sports tradition celebrating the skill and courage of the men and women of the U.S. Military-the very people Operation Gratitude serves, " said Carolyn Blashek, founder of the organization. "We are honored once again to be included in the Army/Navy Game activities, and thank UPS, the Philadelphia Sports Congress, GalleryCollection.com and all Philadelphians for their enormous patriotic support and spirit," she added.

The first Army-Navy Game kicked off in 1890 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, and became an annual tradition starting in 1930. Generally played on the first Saturday in December, the game is considered one of the longest lasting rivalries in college football. To learn more about the 2008 game, visit http://www.PhillyLovesArmyNavy.com/

Operation Gratitude expects to send more than 70,000 care packages to our brave men and women in uniform during the 2008 holiday season, including its 400,000th Milestone Package on December 13th. Each package costs $10 to ship. All donations to Operation Gratitude, an all-volunteer organization, are tax deductible.

Operation Gratitude is the 501 (c) (3) non-profit, volunteer organization that annually sends 100,000+ care packages of items and letters addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in combat zones. Its mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member’s face and to express to all troops the appreciation and support of the American people. Since its inception in March, 2003, Operation Gratitude has shipped more than 390,000 packages to American troops deployed overseas; the 400,000th package will be assembled on December 13, 2008 at the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, CA.

SOURCE: Operation Gratitude