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A thousand holiday greeting cards will be provided to University of Maine students to send to active duty servicemen and women through the next week.
The postcards are made possible by the University Bookstore, Printing Services and ROTC, with the assistance of Food Services, Public Safety and the Computer Connection. Printing Services designed and printed the cards, the Bookstore is providing postage, and ROTC is helping send out the cards and staffing promotional tables. Individuals can either send an anonymous card to someone in the Maine Guard or Reserve or to someone they know as part of the program, the first of its kind in recent university history.
“[This program] might be at the Bookstore, but it’s part of the UMaine community,” said Wendy Gavett, assistant director of the Bookstore. “I’m sure [the active duty servicemen and women] will appreciate a hello from the Maine community.”
Art Larsen, the director of Printing and Mailing Services, selected the design from marketing department files. He said the image of Stevens Hall is a good representation of the UMaine community.
“People see Stevens Hall and they think of the University of Maine,” Larsen said. “Besides, it’s a great winter scene, with the birds and all.”
The cards will be available for individuals to fill out all this week around campus. ROTC cadets will staff tables in all of the commons during lunch and dinner, as well as at the UMaine men’s hockey game on Friday. Cards will also be available at the Bookstore and at the Public Safety desk inside Memorial Union.
“Hopefully, the 1,000 postcards will go right away,” Gavett said.
To send a card to a specific person, students must know the recipients full name and exact address. If the person is in the Maine Guard or Reserve, the name and unit must be included.
Capt. Timothy Shaffer, an assistant professor of military science, said the 15 to 20 anonymous cards he received when he served in South Korea really made a difference to him
“It lets a soldier know that someone out there is thinking about them, and someone from the Maine community cares,” he said. “It was just as good to get something like this from someone I didn’t know. It especially helps when a soldier isn’t getting anything.”
Shaffer and Larsen both stressed that the program is not intended to be a political statement.
“I think it’s important for the reservists and national guardsmen to know that the people of Maine are thinking about them during the holiday season while they are away from home,” Larsen said. “This is not a political statement for or against the war. We are just letting them know that we are thinking of them.”
Bangor Daily News