By Kathy Collins
Center Place Fine Arts and The Community Roundtable will present the 8th Annual Cards For Troops on Saturday, October 3 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Center Place located at 619 Vonderburg Dr. in Brandon.
Members of the community 16 years and older can come together to assemble 2,500 cards this year. All card are left blank so that the troops can fill them out and send them to family and friends.
Dawn Galia, executive director of Center Place, said, “This is a wonderful free community event, the whole community comes together to support our military. The cards are beautifully hand-crafted and designed by our Stampin’ Up Demonstrators and committee members.”
Janine Nickerson, president of The Community Roundtable, said, “The Community Roundtable partners with Center Place to support the troops. Sending 100 cards to an individual soldier to share with members in their unit is a unique idea, and based on the thank you letters received from the troops, they appreciate the time, talent, and effort our volunteers put into this project.”
Galia added, “As long as we have service men and women overseas who continue to keep our country safe, this is just one small community effort that can show them how much we appreciate them.” Nickerson added, “Participating is lots of fun and is reminiscent of a quilting bee. People sit at tables – each has a different card design – and chat with one another as they follow the directions to create these mini masterpieces.”
There are many ways the community can help with this event. Guests can come out an help assemble the cards. No experience is necessary. In addition, organizers need food donations to serve volunteers. They also need addresses of individual soldiers because the cards must be delivered to a specific person. Finally, monetary donations are welcomed to help defray the cost of the supplies and postage.
This year, Center Place will be working with a local elementary school to make children’s cards which will be specially designed for the little ones to say “Thank You” to the troops.
For more information on the 8th Annual Cards For Troops, visit www.www.centerplacebrandon.org or call 685-8888.
