I Heart Celebrity Causes Highlights James Patterson's Operation Gratitude

As a society we like our celebrities and tend to support the causes they endorse with this status. Our celebrities are those that entertain and inspire us such as those that act in the movies, on television and the stage, our favorite musicians, athletes from our favorite teams or provide national pride representing at the Olympics, the authors of our favorite literary works and those that provide contributions in the world of art. Each month in this population-we™ (pop-we) series, I Heart Celebrity Causes, a celebrity will be chosen and the cause that they promote will be looked at.

I Heart Celebrity Causes!

This month in the fourth installment of I Heart Celebrity Causes the focus is on author James Patterson and Operation Gratitude. Patterson is the prolific author whose books include the Alex Cross series and Women's Murder Club series. One cause that Patterson has lent his efforts is Operation Gratitude.

Founded in March 2003 by Carolyn Blashek, Operation Gratitude is a way of saying THANKS to the troops by sending care packages containing snacks, entertainment items and personal letters. Blashek initially sent four care packages the first day and it has grown to sending over 150,000 care packages per year with the help of volunteers. The organization encourages letter writing campaigns for both current U.S. military and for the veterans of previous conflicts. The mission of the organization is to lift the spirits and meet some needs of active duty and veterans while providing volunteer opportunities to those who want to offer appreciation to our military.

Patterson and his publisher Little, Brown and Company teamed up with Operation Gratitude in addition to Books for Heroes, the Peerless Bookstore and Feed the Children in 2012 to distribute many of the author's titles to military personnel stationed in the U.S. and Afghanistan. More than 200,000 books were donated as the troops could choose from the titles: "I, Alex Cross", "Private", "Tick Tock," and others. The books were sent in 20,000 boxes from his printers in Indiana to Fort Benning, Georgia and the Van Nuys National Guard Armory in California and then shipped to the troops.

If you would be interested in writing letters to our troops and/or veterans you can check out the letter writing site. If you would be interested in making a donation to Operation Gratitude those can be made at the online donation center and tribute site.

Most importantly, Bravo to pop-we I Heart Celebrity Causes--James Patterson--for his efforts with Operation Gratitude!

-population-we™ blog post by John Bohan

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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