The politicians may have given up on the troops — indeed, may not even know who our troops are — but almost 4 million Americans haven’t:
Between cramming for finals, preparing for prom and graduating, Shauna Fleming managed to crisscross the country, visit the Pentagon, throw out the first pitch at a Chicago White Sox game and shoot a national TV advertising campaign.
Not a bad way to finish high school.
Three years ago, the Orange County student started “A Million Thanks” letter-writing campaign for U.S. troops fighting overseas. She tripled her expectations and is now starting a nonprofit organization that gives a bit more – granting wishes to wounded soldiers.
“It’s been an amazing but very humbling experience,” the 18-year-old said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world because it’s so valuable. It makes you appreciate things so much more.”
In the age of e-mail, cell phones and text messaging where communicating is a click away, Fleming reached out the old-fashioned way – by mail. The bright-eyed blonde wanted to express her gratitude to soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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The younger Fleming’s goal was to collect 1 million letters, but once word got out, her private Christian school was flooded with responses that haven’t stopped.
Within six months she reached her goal and flew to Washington to present the millionth letter to President Bush, who gave her a personal tour of the White House.
Fleming was challenged by former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers to gather 2.6 million letters – the number of men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces.
She surpassed that mark and now predicts she’ll reach the 4 million mark by the end of the month after teaming up with General Motors, which placed letter boxes in 3,700 dealerships nationwide. Fleming also appeared in a national TV advertising campaign for GM promoting the effort.
The program has been warmly received wherever Fleming goes. Last month, she attended a Chicago White Sox game and urged the crowd to write letters. The fans responded with more than 44,000.
Read the rest here.
Filed under: Military
I found your site and appreciate you publishing the AP article. I hope everyone will help me send more thank you letters to our troops this year.
A Million Thanks,
Shauna
Good for you Shauna but it’s sad when adults ,schools,institutions and corporations use children(not that this is the case here) to do men and womens work.Oh boy, Western Civ could be on the slippery slope slide again.History repeating itself,a Childrens Crusade(guaranteed this one will turn out better) But hey, you got my blessing ! “Onward Christian Soldiers Marching to . . .
ps Good luck
What a project. I saw her site by accident while searching for some misc thing via google. I was quite impressed by such dedication.