6,800 Christmas cards delivered to veterans

Dec. 20--The Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau delivered around 6,800 Christmas cards to area veterans Thursday.

It was the largest number of cards collected in the eight-year history of the program.

Last year, more than 6,000 were collected.

On Dec. 11, with one day to go in the drive, the CVB had received roughly 4,500 cards.

But more than 2,300 came in before the deadline on Dec. 12, Beck Glenn, the CVB's marketing coordinator, said Friday.

One church -- Dawson Memorial Baptist Church near Maceo -- brought in 1,992 of the cards last month when the campaign began.

Several other groups have brought in large numbers of cards, Glenn said.

The cards were delivered to 13 long-term care facilities in and around Owensboro, including the Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson.

They also went to the Veterans Affairs clinic in Owensboro, the American Legion, AMVETS, VFW and the Kentucky National Guard.

The program began in the fall of 2007.

Karen Miller Porter, who was executive director of the CVB at that time, said the idea came from several people who were discussing Owensboro'sVeterans Day Parade that year.

It was a shame, someone said, that so many veterans were getting old and ill and unable to attend.

From that conversation, Christmas Cards for Veterans was born.

People who participated in the card drive wrote personal notes inside them, signed the cards and addressed the envelopes to "Honored Veteran," "American Hero" or "Dear Service Member."

Keith Lawrence, 691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com

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