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Emily's Way Project 2013: In Her Honor

The inaugural Emily's Way project was held on January 2nd and 4th at the home of the Woodward-Ohms family. The event was a huge success as friends and family gathered together and created felt hearts with the words "We Care" painted onto them. In addition, participants wrote personal messages to troops and a felt heart was then pinned onto each card. 

 

Over1200 cards have been sent to Operation Gratitude

 

Originally we were hoping to create about 500 We Care cards. The turnout was so strong that 1000 cards were made over the course of two project days in Palo Alto, and hundreds more hearts came in from afar, made by those of you who requested “to-go” kits. More than 1200 cards have already been sent to Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends care packages to troops. In addition, a batch of cards has been sent to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, the location of the majority of troops who are undergoing or recovering from amputation surgeries. These are the troops that originally touched Emily's heart, when she read a newspaper article on that subject during the spring semester of her senior year of high school. This project fulfills Emily's wish to reach out to troops and let them know that we care.

Angel receiving We Care cards at Operation Gratitude.

 

We have heard back from their wonderful personnel: “The cards are so needed, they were quickly passed on to our volunteer screeners who will read them and get them ready to ship in our care packages asap…As a mom-in-law to a now-former Marine who deployed three times before his 22nd birthday, I know how important those cards and letters of thanks and encouragement are to our deployed men and women.” So, once again, we thank all of you who helped with this effort. There is no way to describe the pain of losing Emily. But we are trying to move forward, and we want to try to have a way to keep celebrating her creative, fun, and generous spirit on her birthday. We can’t thank you enough for your support.

We would like to extend special thanks to the Woodward-Ohms family for opening up their home for these events, and to Jennifer Allen and Mike Maystead of PIP Printing of Palo Alto for generously contributing the printed cards for troops. We would also like to thank Peggy, Jill, Jane, and Julie, for their behind-the-scenes support, and Sophia Armitano for fulfilling "to-go" kits orders. We are inspired by what many hands can do together. 

 

Brenda and Lisa and Lynn and Lauren from down in So Cal 

made 300 hearts!

Did you receive a We Care card?  Please tell us your location so we can share this with those who participated in this project.

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