Michelle Shortencarrier, America Supports You, 202.615.7152
ONE ACT OF KINDNESS CHANGES TWO LIVES
HALLMARK CHANNEL’S HENRY SCHLEIFF ANNOUNCES
NATIONAL CARDS FOR TROOPS CAMPAIGN
AT NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
Surprise Reunion at Apex of Event for One Military Family
Hallmark Channel President & CEO Henry Schleiff announced the network’s new initiative “Cards for Troops” and a partnership with “America Supports You” during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. today. “America Supports You” is a Department of Defense program that highlights the support of Americans for the men and women of the U.S. Armed Services.
“Just as our courageous troops represent America’s best, the Hallmark Channel is proud to participate in this America Supports You program because it represents the very best of what our network as well as what we as Americans stand for,” said Schleiff.
“We’re pleased to add Hallmark Channel to our list of corporate team members on the America Supports You program,” said Allison Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the founder of America Supports You. “The ‘Cards for Troops’ campaign and the debut of the movie ‘The Christmas Card,’ not only remind Americans of the importance of sending letters to our troops, in particular around the holidays, but provides them a perfect way to do it.”
The highlight of today’s announcement was the SURPRISE REUNION of Jennifer Parsley, a young woman from Porter, Texas who sent thousands of cards to troops through Operation Gratitude and in the process met a young serviceman, Jeremy Harshman, who is deployed overseas. Hallmark Channel was able to set up a satellite link to the press club for the couple’s surprise meeting.
The story behind the original Hallmark Channel movie, “The Christmas Card,” which premieres Saturday, December 2 (9/8c) about a career soldier in Afghanistan whose spirits are buoyed after he receives an anonymous holiday card, led the network to an idea for a Hallmark Channel “Cards for Troops” campaign. A holiday card was designed and made available on the network’s consumer website, www.hallmarkchannel.com.
The cast of “The Christmas Card,” seven-time Emmy® Award winner Edward Asner, John Newton (“Desperate Housewives”), Alice Evans (“102 Dalmatians”) and Peter Jason (“Deadwood”) have participated in several major events that create awareness of the importance of remembering the troops by sending a holiday greeting.
One particular event was at Operation Gratitude, a non-profit, all volunteer organization and ASY team member that sends care packages and letters to troops deployed overseas. The movie talent and Hallmark Channel employees participated in the packaging of over 17,000 boxes.
As the newest member of the “America Supports You,”
team, the network has committed to a number of activities in support of military members and their families. During the two-day stay in Washington, D.C., the cast of
“The Christmas Card” visited patients at both Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Medical Center. In addition, the cast will attend a preview screening for over 400 military families at Fort Belvoir Military Base in Fort Belvoir, VA.
To further support the “Cards for Troops” Campaign, Hallmark Channel will distribute over 10,000 network-designed cards at Lincoln Financial Field before the commencement of the 107th Army-Navy Classic in Philadelphia on December 2. All the cards will be placed in Operation Gratitude bins located throughout the stadium which will be mailed to individual servicemen and women overseas.
In a “life imitates art, imitates life” moment, Hallmark Channel has found two real-life couples who met through anonymous cards to servicemen. Victoria and Henry Brandel of Muskegon, Michigan “met” in 1954 through anonymous cards. The couple recently celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary.
America Supports You is an ongoing nationwide program that helps showcase American’s support for the men and women of the Armed Forces. Since its launch in November of 2004 by the Department of Defense, America Supports You has welcomed 234 member organizations and more than 32 corporate sponsors to its team. Many America Supports You team members support the troops by writing letters, sending care packages, helping the wounded when they return home, assisting military families, sending e-mails or simply extending kind gestures to the troops. To learn more about how you can support military personnel please visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.
Operation Gratitude is the California- based 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that sends care packages and letters addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Guantanamo Bay, Kosovo and on military ships all over the world. Operation Gratitude was established in March 2003 to support U.S. Troops serving in some of the world's harshest locations and is funded entirely by private donations and staffed exclusively by volunteers. Its mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member's face and to express to all troops the appreciation and support of the American people.
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 75 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Total Day and Prime Time household ratings and is the nation’s leading network in providing family-friendly programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.
# # #
