Los Angeles, March 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Operation Gratitude, a national nonprofit providing Care Packages to our country's Military, First Responders, and Veterans, is celebrating National Crafting Month this March with its 5th Red, White, and Blue Paracord Challenge.
As part of the challenge, the organization is calling on passionate crafters to contribute to its Handmade with Love program by competing with other participants from March 16 to March 31 to make the most red, white, and blue paracord lanyards. Each lanyard made will be added to an Operation Gratitude Care Package to be gifted to a U.S. Service Member or First Responder.
Paracord lanyards, a staple in the organization's Care Packages, are both functional in emergencies and meaningful to their recipients. When you craft a paracord lanyard, you are providing a service member or first responder with a tangible and lasting expression of your gratitude and a symbol of the appreciation of grateful Americans everywhere. Since 2012, Operation Gratitude Handmade with Love Volunteers from around the world have made nearly 1.5 million paracords to be included in the organization’s Care Packages.
In celebration of the organization's 20th anniversary, Operation Gratitude is also asking Red, White, and Blue Paracord Challenge participants to write 20 letters of gratitude per household this year. Every letter written will be included in the organization's Care Packages. Writing a letter or card is a deeply meaningful way to say "Thank You" to all who serve. Many recipients treasure these notes of appreciation, many keeping their letters for years to come. Since 2018, the organization has received over 655,000 cards for Service Members, First Responders, and Veterans.
"By making items such as the paracord bracelets, I hope to let our servicemen and women know that someone cares about them back home. When the paracord challenges come up, it makes me want to do as many as I can as my way of saying "Thank You" for your Service." - Jeanine Mattson, Handmade with Love Volunteer and winner of the last Operation Gratitude paracord challenge.
Every Operation Gratitude Care Package includes items crafted by an Operation Gratitude Handmade with Love Volunteer. Encompassing Volunteers worldwide and in every U.S. state, the Handmade with Love program, since its inception, has utilized enough yarn for its handmade items to circle the earth three times! In 2022, the Handmade with Love program clocked nearly 400,000 Volunteer hours. Handmade with Love Volunteers meet virtually on a regular basis.
To sign up for the 2023 Red, White, and Blue Paracord Challenge, please visit Paracord Challenge Registration.
Operation Gratitude will announce this year’s winner of the challenge on its social media on May 2.
About Operation Gratitude
Operation Gratitude is a nonprofit dedicated to providing people nationwide opportunities for hands-on volunteerism in support of Military, Veterans, and First Responders. In March of 2003, Operation Gratitude sent its first four care packages to deployed service members in Iraq. Since its inception, the organization has encouraged millions of Americans to express their gratitude through hands-on volunteerism, in turn lifting the spirits of more than 3.8 million Deployed Troops, Recruit Graduates, Veterans, Military Families, and First Responders. The Volunteers of Operation Gratitude are a generous and spirited grassroots network of Americans joined in common cause to say “Thank You” to all who serve our amazing country. For more information visit OperationGratitude.com.
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