Cards for soldiers

By Miranda Beebe, MCP Correspondent.
SCOTTVILLE — Patty Yarbrough wants to make sure that no soldier is forgotten, especially during Christmas time.
“When my son-in-law was overseas, he told stories of soldiers with him who never got anything from home,” the Scottville resident said. She collects Christmas cards for soldiers throughout the year and sends them in the fall to the Massachusetts organization called Operation Christmas Cards.
Patty found the organization through Facebook and has been collecting cards locally for three years now. The Operation Christmas Cards sends the cards to deployed troops during the holidays.
Patty estimated that in her first year she collected roughly 1,500, and this year she’s aiming for 4,000. The Massachusetts program sent about 315,000 last year to soldiers that may not otherwise receive mail from home.
”My brother was in Vietnam and would talk about how they were forgotten. I promised I would never let that happen again.”
Patty has already begun collecting and signing cards for the 2013 Christmas season. Donated Christmas cards can either be signed, or unsigned, and the envelopes need to be left unsealed without stamps. Patty wants people to know that she doesn’t have a non-profit, which means she can’t give tax breaks for donating.
Contact Patty at 231-233-7268 with any questions , or drop off cards at 403 S. Elm, in Scottville