Operation Gratitude

After 9-11, founder Carolyn Blashek felt a passionate desire to help fight the war on terrorism. Although then a 46-year-old mother of two living in Encino, Calif., her first thought was to join the Military. She quickly found out she was too old for duty and started volunteering at the military lounge in the Los Angeles airport. One day in March 2003, a soldier came into the office and broke down at her desk. He was on leave from a war zone for his mother's funeral, his wife had left him and his only child died as an infant--he had no one else in his life. "I'm going back over there; I don't think I'll make it back this time, but it really doesn’t matter because no one would even care” he told her. Right then Blashek realized that when bullets are flying, it's critical for troops to know that someone cares about them as an individual. That's when Operation Gratitude was born.

While most organizations ask people to support the troops by writing a check, Blashek wanted to provide a more personal and hands-on connection with our troops overseas. She started asking everyone she met if they knew a deployed service member needing extra TLC so she could send them care packages of snacks and entertainment items. Most importantly, each package would include letters of encouragement from appreciative citizens.

Blashek started gathering more names through inquiries (via the Operation Gratitude website, www.operationgratitude.com) by family members and loved ones unable to afford to send packages themselves, and from comrades of troops who had received Operation Gratitude packages. Eventually, Blashek was contacted by leaders and commanders in the field who saw the positive impact her care packages were having on their men and women in combat. They would ask if she could support some of their troops who were not otherwise receiving any mail. Blashek always said yes, but also wanted to send something to every person in their command, because each one needed to know that Americans all over the country remembered and appreciated them and their service to our nation.

This grassroots organization started at Blashek's dining room table and now encompasses churches, schools, businesses and service groups all over the country donating items and writing letters to troops through Operation Gratitude. In November 2003, Operation Gratitude teamed up with the California Army National Guard in Van Nuys, Calif. to host a "Support Our Troops" Holiday Drive where 200 volunteers assembled 4,000 holiday packages in one weekend. By mid-December, more than 6,000 holiday packages had been mailed. The operation was based at the Armory through June, 2006, by which time the program had grown so much, it needed a dedicated facility. Operation Gratitude will move into its own building by September 1, 2006. All staffing remains on a volunteer basis, and Blashek is committed to keeping it that way.