Wrentham Court Clerk Magistrate Collecting Holiday Cards For Troops
BOSTON (CBS) – Honoring the troops is the goal of the Wrentham based "Court Cards for Combat."
Volunteers encourage people to make holiday cards for soldiers, many deployed in harm's way. The cards come from all over the place, but none more touching than those written by the hands of children.
One simply reads "thank you," another begins "Dear Hero," and a third says "thank you for serving our country."
Those are just a few of the cards written by about 100 third graders at the Igo Elementary School in Foxboro.
"I hope you believe in yourself, because I believe in you," says 3rd grader Grace Yucatonis, quoting from the card she made before adding that soldiers "have a lot of courage to do what they do now."
"We've been doing this every year," says Evan Paluzzi, another of the students hoping to brighten the holidays for soldiers.
"It's very brave of them to do, like fight for our freedom," says Neve Taylor, another 3rd grader.
The cards pile up, and when they're finished, they'll take them to the Wrentham District Court.
Eddie Doherty, the court's Clerk Magistrate, put the movement together about eight years ago.
He came up with the idea after talking to a Vietnam veteran.
"I said, 'Would it make your day if you got one of these Christmas cards?' And he said, 'You know what, in the jungles of Vietnam nothing makes your day, but it helps,'" Doherty recalls. "And so that was good enough for me to get started."
People hand deliver or mail their cards to the courthouse.
"Last year we got about 3,500, and we hope to get more than that this year," Doherty said.
He takes the cards to the organization Cape Cod for the Troops, where volunteers include them in care packages for soldiers.
"We don't do enough for our troops so it's our little way of showing appreciation for their sacrifice," Doherty added.
The deadline for getting cards to the Wrentham courthouse is Nov. 19 so there's time to include them in the holiday packages and ship them overseas.
If you'd like to help, send cards to:
Eddie Doherty
Wrentham District Court
60 East St.
Wrentham, MA 02093
For more information on how to get involved, visit the Cape Cod For The Troops website.