Operation Gratitude Inc
Cause Area
- Veterans & Military Families
Location
9409 Owensmouth AveENCINO, CA 91426 United StatesWebsite:
https://www.operationgratitude.com/Organization Information
Mission Statement
Honor the service of our Military and First Responders by creating opportunities to express gratitude.
Description
After 9-11, founder Carolyn Blashek was compelled to join the military to serve our Country. Past the age of enlistment, she began volunteering at a military lounge at the Los Angeles International Airport. In March 2003, a service member 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 had died as an infant-he had no one else in his life.
"I’m going back over there; I know I won’t 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, troops must believe that someone at home cares about them as an individual. That’s when Operation Gratitude was born.
While this grassroots movement started in Blashek’s living room, it now encompasses Americans all over the country donating items and writing letters to all who serve.
Today, Operation Gratitude has sent over 3.5 million Care Packages around the world with the help of grateful Americans like you.