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We want to hear about how Operation Gratitude has made an impact to you or someone you know!

Battalion Buddies

Good afternoon, I have attached a few of my kids with their bears. Thank you again for everything y’all do! I loved seeing how happy the kids were when they received a teddy bear!! We will be reaching out regarding the care packages for the sailors. Thank you so much! 

A ginormous thank you! 4,000 soldiers and their families came through our deployment fair today. We had every resource on post available, bouncy houses, food trucks, etc… and the bears were the highlight. So many happy little ones. So many parents who will deploy who appreciated having something to give their kids. It was a team effort, and so amazing to see it to fruition. Thank you for all of your help!

Deployed Troops

Dear Operation Gratitude Team,

My name is Chief J.M., and I serve aboard the USS ROSS, in Rota Spain.

The ship received your Gratitude packages today (Thursday, March 19th 2020), and I can safely say, we are the ones who are grateful. We just returned from a tough deployment, and we went straight into mandatory quarantine measures here in Spain due to COVID-19.

Your packages were a ray of sunshine to the crew and myself. Thank you for your efforts to brighten the everyday lives of myself and sailors everywhere.

A heartfelt thank you, from my family to yours.

I am an airman of the United States Navy, aboard the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT. I'm currently quarantined due to COVID-19 in Guam.

On April 25, I received a package containing appreciation letters. I just wanted to say thank you for the support and the letters. Nowadays, with COVID-19 spreading, the only human interactions I have are with my fiance and mother. So hearing from others who appreciate me and what I do is really nice.

Thank you so much for the prayers and wishes.

With much appreciation,

Thank you for the care package. I just arrived in the country and did not have everything I needed right away. Again, thank you very, very much, your support and other organizations like yours don't often receive enough praise for how it positively impacts Soldiers. I appreciate it more than you know, and I can tell you, the Soldiers in my formation do as well.

I just wanted to say thank you soo much for the heartfelt and very well put together care package I received while deployed. The cards are amazing, and everything in the package will go to good use! You are all doing a great thing to help people who might not have anyone at home to send them a care package, and the handmade cards are something to smile for. They are everywhere it’s great to see appreciation and love from everyone back home. Thank you again for everything, and know we all appreciate everything you do for us out here! One of the cards I received will be hung on the back of my monitor for all to see when they greet me in the morning. Also thank you for the lovely handmade grey beanie! I love and collect hats, this one will be hung up when I get home with my others I cherish, and I will feel the Love & appreciation every time I wear it!

Recently chaplains collaborated with Operation Gratitude to receive 2,500 care packages during the Christmas/New Years holiday season.  I was able to catch the ending of these care packages being distributed on board the carrier and when I say I witnessed so much laughter, smiles, grown men and women acting silly - it brought so much joy to my heart!  For those who do not understand how much ONE box means to one service member, just know it means A-LOT especially during times like these in our world. There are a lot of sailors who live full-time on board and did not get to go “home” for the holidays. Receiving these boxes made their day, made their holiday season, and brought them so much joy! 

Good day! I wanted to send a picture and a big thank you for the care packages my team received. It always makes us smile when we receive love and support from back home. Thank you so much!!

FIrst responders

We didn’t let the Officers know about our Care Package from Operation Gratitude until the day it was delivered. We wanted it to be a special surprise for them.

I have to say your organization went above and beyond. The Officers appreciated everything you sent. Especially the handwritten letters, they were amazing! I sent thank you letters to those who put their emails on their cards.

During these scary and uncertain times, being able to read the beautiful messages that people, from all over the United States took the time to write, was wonderful. What your organization does is so thoughtful. It allows the Officers to see that there are so many people out there that truly appreciate what they do and what they go through as they protect and serve.

We thank you Katie, along with Operation Gratitude, your generous partners, donors, volunteers and everyone who has a hand in making First Responders, the Military and our Veterans feel appreciated.

There are no words that can be used to say how thankful we are for Operation Gratitude.

We have distributed some of the items thus far and I can say that the smiles and excitement of grown men and women here made it felt like Christmas Day (even in the middle of a Pandemic).

We are indebted to your organization, our public information officer is going to post a picture that we took with your banner onto our Instagram soon. Thanks again for all of the items, your staff members were very nice and extremely professional. You guys are truly a world-class organization.

The guys were all very grateful for the care packages! Thank you and thank all of your volunteers!

We are so grateful for you and your team of volunteers and donors! Thank y’all again.

Fire Departments & EMS

Just wanted to share our gratitude with you and the organization and say a huge thank you to the team at Operation Gratitude from Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Station 90.

As you know everyone everywhere has been touched to some degree by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here at the station level we are dealing with it first hand and are in need of decontamination materials.

I placed one phone call to Stacey, and with her help along with Kim and Luis, you all set us up with much-needed hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes which are in short supply everywhere.

As simple as it may sound these items are critical in helping stop the spread of the virus and helping keep our station sterile which in turn means that fewer of us get exposed and are able to stay here at work in a clean and healthy environment. It also means that we are limiting what we are exposing all of our family members to when we leave the station and go home.

I personally can’t thank you guys enough for always being willing to do whatever it takes to meet the needs of the first responder community and I know that all the members here at Fire Station 90 echo my sentiments.

I wish you all good health and look forward to seeing you at the next assembly day sometime in the near future.

Military Families

My husband is deployed and my daughter (who is 5) is struggling intensely with his absence. He is her hero and her very best friend and service is so spotty she can’t even talk to him. Today she got a package with a note and a little bear. It broke my heart to see her so overwhelmed by it.

She completely left her dinner, went straight to bed and snuggled “daddy” all night. This morning she sat him in her daddy’s seat and chatted to him at breakfast just like he was there.

Thank you for this small but substantial blessing. This really is so hard, and I’m just glad someone else understands.

With gratitude from a mother’s heart,

I wanted to reach out and thank you for attending the 1BCT Devil Day event and for your Battalion Buddy donation.

My seven year old has struggled with her dad leaving unexpectedly, especially at night, and she hasn’t let go of the bear since she received it.

The volunteer we spoke with was so friendly and welcoming and took the time to speak with her and to thank my husband for his service while telling us about his son’s experience.

The entire event was wonderful, but the bear was definitely the best part for my child. Thank you to your team and all of your volunteers for all that you do.

We appreciate it so much.

Veterans

Our Veterans receive their packages at dinner the first night we were in Falls Church, VA.

They were thrilled to get such a lovely collection of items. It was like Christmas in October!

This is a wonderful thing that you do and we are honored to partner with such a great organization. Our trip was a great success.

One of our Veterans said, “You grit your teeth and take a deep breath when you go into war. I have finally exhaled!”

Thank you so much for the care packages. Our students are excited and will go a long way in boosting their morale to finish the semester strong. Thank you for all that you do!

Thank you, everyone, for putting these care packages together!

They mean so much to veterans, especially the ones without a safe place to lay their heads at night. Your gratitude is especially important to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, and civilians currently working to maintain our freedom and way of life.

Keep up the great work, and continue to do amazing things!

Photo of our grateful veterans that received these amazing care packages. We really appreciate all the support you give. Thanks again for all that you and Operation Gratitude does for our veterans.

Wounded Heroes & Caregivers

Hello everyone with Operation Gratitude.

I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of my veteran for the package.

The package was a morale booster for him and for our family. It came just in time as our son was leaving to go abroad and we enjoyed the goodies while watching tv and spending time with him. It also gave our son and veteran something to talk about and bring them closer together.

Thank you from a caregiver/spouse

These boxes always seem to bring so much happiness when someone needs it the most—sometimes you just send these out and have no idea how much it means to the people receiving them.

Please know these boxes mean the world to the person and make more of a difference then you know. A horrible few weeks and then there is a box and a smile crosses the face of someone who has not smiled in such a long time.

Thank you all at Operation Gratitude ♥️