This summer I will be working at a kids camp at McNeese State University. Each week there will be a different theme, and one week the theme is "Heroes" where we will be making a field trip to the local fire department. The counselors were given the task of coming up with two games and two crafts for each week. My idea for Hero week is to teach each kid how to write a letter and then help them write a letter to a hero.
This hero would be a man or woman that is deployed, or a young man or young woman that is currently in basic training. This hero can be in any branch of the military.
The only problem is that we don't have any names and addresses of any deployed heroes, or any names and addresses of young men and women in basic training. These men and women do not get enough gratitude for the situations that they go through. Having a child write a letter to a hero will not only give the soldier an uplift, but it will teach a child the valuable lesson to honor our heroes. They put their lives on the line. It will teach children a skill that isn't taught any more, which is how to write a letter.
I have heard of the horrors that happen at basic training. Some of those young men and women might not have anyone write to them and may be all alone. These men and women get depressed. Receiving a handwritten, from the heart letter from a child would more than make their day. It would show them that they really do have a reason to keep going, fighting and being strong. That reason would be the child who sent them this letter.
To those of you who were in the service, how would you have felt had you received a letter from a child whom you did not know thanking you for you service? Would it have made you happy? I am sure it would have. This is what I want. I want the men and women who serve this country to feel like they are appreciated because many times they are not and it breaks my heart. I want them to feel like they are not putting their life in danger for no reason. I want to give them a reason to wake up each morning. I want them to be happy while they are away from their husbands / wives and own children. I want the ones who are out there because they have no family to know that there is someone out there who cares and that someone is a second grader from Louisiana. I want these children to leave summer camp with the same level of gratitude for the women and men that serve this country as I do.
My goal is to get at the least 100 names and addresses. If you know someone who would love to receive a letter, then I am asking you to please leave their name and address in the comment section below.
Let's honor our heroes and make Operation Gratitude happen because without your help, I can't make this happen.