Thanks to a group of creative women at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, U.S. soldiers stationed all over the world were able to send handmade Mother's Day cards back home to their wives and mothers this year.
Many soldiers don't have access to greeting card shops where they are stationed, said Dacia Smith, a co-founder of the group that calls itself Love Notes.
"We're creating cards that allow them to send heartfelt messages back to their families. So our cards are circling the globe," making round trips from the United States, to military stations worldwide and then back to the U.S.
This is the third year in a row that the Love Notes group has crafted Mother's Day cards for soldiers, making a total of 3,351 cards since 2009. At other times of the year, the group makes other holiday cards, birthday cards and generic notecards for the soldiers to send home. They also make cards for shut-ins and other people in need.
About 100 women worked for several hours at the Mother's Day card-making session in April at Calvary's main campus at 5000 Country Club Road. The women assembled the cards by gluing on ribbons and cut-outs, and by stamping and embossing lettering and designs on the cards.
"After we finished the cards, we put the cards in a box in the center of the room, and we circled around it and prayed over them," said Gay Morris, the other co-founder of Love Notes. "We prayed that the love of God that has been given to us would be extended to the soldiers and their loved ones."
The cards are sent overseas to military posts through a nationwide operation called From Our Hearts. Boxes of cards are sent to chaplains at Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force bases all over the world, many in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some thank-you notes from the soldiers are posted on From Our Hearts' website:
•"I wanted to take a moment to extend my greatest appreciation for your generosity in providing a wonderful selection of cards. While deployed, it can be a challenge to find a card to match the personalities and occasions that we find ourselves in. Thank you for helping to fill that void! God bless the U.S.A.!"
•"Nothing shows how much you care about someone more than a gift that is handmade. You help us express how we feel to our loved ones back home, one card at a time. So from my own personal heart, I thank you for the opportunity to learn that there are people back home who care and support us as much as our families do."
Morris and Smith have spent a lot of their own money on the heavy cardstock paper, as well as the inks, stamps, ribbons and other decorations. They have received some donations as well, from the church and from the crafters.
Smith typically designs the cards and prepares templates for the women to follow.
"These are beautiful cards, with creative designs — really beautiful," said Jeanette Weyandt, director of the counseling ministry at Calvary.
The women typically meet at the church once a week during the nonsummer months. From May to August, they meet once a month.
"I know the soldiers appreciate what we are doing," Morris said. "It means everything to them that somebody back home cares."
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