We keep bumping into the good deeds of Anne – Postcrossing ID Queen of the Hounds – who recommends this project to other Postcrossers.

For example, Renee who lives in Chicago, Illinois. After learning about Postcards to the Front from Anne, she started to send some fabulous cards to Defenders. Including a lot of cute animal cards!

Renee’s kind heart sparkles through her messages. She explained that “writing postcards to the Defenders of Ukraine is a sad joy. Sad that their country is still at war. A joy to be able to touch a soldier with encouraging words and a picture postcard. It breaks my heart that this beautiful country is fighting for its very existence.”

As a Postcrosser, Renee has “lots of practice in writing postcards to people all around the globe, but it is a different mindset to conjure up words of support for a soldier on the front lines in Ukraine; one who is separated from family and loved ones and who faces danger on a daily basis.”

To help her get started, Renee turned to our Tips and Samples page on our website, as well as tried some of the Ukrainian phrases that we provide; though, she admitted, “my Cyrillic script is shaky and totally amateurish, [but] I try my best to uplift and provide a measure of comfort with my words.”

We have learned from many of our postcard warriors that it can be a challenge to start that first sentence to a Defender. But once started, as Renee shared, “it’s a huge privilege to touch another human’s heart, especially one who is fighting for their very existence. I consider this project a labor of love.”

Before she found Postcards to the Front, Renee already supported Ukraine. For instance, she makes donations to various efforts to support Ukraine. She also believes that it’s important to exercise her franchise by “voting for public officials who hold pro-democracy and anti-authoritarianism values and [to support] leaders who value humanity, civil rights and egalitarianism.”

Now that she knows about Postcards to the Front, Renee has added a note to her Postcrossing profile to encourage others to go to our website. She also shares about “this worthwhile effort with friends, family and acquaintances. I let them know that if they do not have postcards, my vast collection is at their disposal.”

In other words, Renee does what she can, in the United States, to support what Ukraine’s Defenders are doing in Ukraine, all to uphold and maintain democracy. One way in which people from different parts of the world support each other for common objectives.

When thinking about the cards that she sends to Defenders, Renee “likes to imagine that a Defender feels uplifted on receiving a postcard written by a human in faraway Chicago. I want the Defender to know that they are not alone – many people care and want their courageous effort to prevail. Truly, it brings tears to my eyes to imagine someone reading these postcards and smiling and, perhaps, feeling a bit stronger.”

There are many amazing people, such as Renee, all over the world who are dismayed by the invasion of Ukraine, and who want to do something concrete and meaningful to show their support for Ukraine. What we do at Postcards to the Front is ensure that Defenders receive messages of support with words of kindness and care that remind them that they are not forgotten. We stand with them.

Finally, it’s quite touching that Renee also is “thankful that this project exists and that good people like Anne in Australia, and Helen and Jean-Michel in Canada, are doing the work of angels.”

Thank you, Renee, for all your kind words and for all that you do!  

Please tell others about this project.

Ask family and friends to write cards. Involve your children and grandchildren.

Maybe you want to organize a postcard-writing bee?

Check our website for tips, How to Organize a Postcard-Writing Workshop.

Share our website – postcardstothefrontcanada.com

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Need cards? Write to us at postcardstothefront.canada@gmail.com, and we’ll send you postcards to write to Defenders. FREE!

If you have some written cards ready for us to ship to Ukraine, here’s our address:

Postcards to the Front

P. O. Box 184

Millbrook, ON   L0A 1G0 Canada