Postcards to the Front (Canada / Канада)

How to Send a Postcard

Practical tools

How to send a postcard

Ready to write? Here is the whole journey, from blank card to mailbox — the six steps, what to say, and sample messages to borrow from.

A pencil finishing a postcardA red pencil draws a looping line that ends in a heart on a tilted postcard with a gold stamp; small gold stars twinkle above.

Six steps, start to finish

The whole journey, from a blank card to the mailbox – and none of it is hard.

Step 1

Choose a card – or a few

Cards from your city, a vacation, animals, flowers – anything cheerful and colourful that tells something about you and your life. Send as many as you like: about four or five cards fit in one envelope on a single domestic stamp. See where to find postcards, or contact us and we’ll send you some FREE.

Step 2

Open with a greeting

Address your message to “Defender of Ukraine” or start with “Greetings from Canada”. Many women serve on the front, so your card could go to a female or a male Defender – best not to open with “Hey Dude”. 😉

Step 3

Keep it simple

English is perfectly fine! But remember that English is not their first language. Keep your phrases short and simple using everyday words – and print in large clear letters rather than write in cursive.

Step 4

Fill the WHOLE backside with words and/or drawings

Draw on the card, decorate it, fill the space. Colour and creativity are appreciated – hearts in blue and yellow like the flag, a sunflower, a sunshine, doodles along the edges … It doesn’t matter how simple. No need to leave room for a stamp or address.

Step 5

Try a phrase in Ukrainian

One phrase in Cyrillic letters will make a Defender smile. We support you! = Ми вас підтримуємо! Hugs = Обійми. Canada = Канада. The phrasebook reads them aloud, the printable list goes on the table, and Google Translate can personalize. Don’t worry about getting it perfect – the effort is what counts.

Step 6

Sign off simply

Sign off with your first name only and your city / country – it makes the message personal and reminds them the world hasn’t forgotten. No return address: Defenders don’t have time to write back, and it keeps everyone safe.

The picture sides of a spread of colourful postcards
A wide spread of South African postcards - wildlife, landscapes and Table Mountain - gathered to be written to Ukraine
Two sample postcards, one written in English and one in Ukrainian

What to say

Think of yourself as a Canadian Ambassador of Kindness. Your card – that lovely little bit of paper – just might make the receiver smile. We are told Defenders keep postcards with them, as talismans of good luck. 🙂

Hopes and everyday life

Share your hopes for their health, safety, freedom, and victory. Share something from your day – like the rabbit that’s been chewing on your tulips. Write from your heart. More ideas at Postcrossing.

Words that carry

Ukrainians are fighting to live freely, as they have tried since Independence in 1991. Supportive words include freedom, victory, be brave, be strong, defense of culture.

Support FOR Ukraine

Please do not include comments about Russians. Focus your energy entirely on your message of support and care for Ukraine.

Cards from children are especially welcome

Defenders deeply miss the children in their lives. If there’s a child in your surrounding, write or draw a card together: joyful cards produced by children bring many smiles.

Important

Ukraine is multi-national and multi-religious. Choose supportive phrases that don’t invoke one particular belief.

Words have powerOn a near-black panel, a shield in Ukrainian blue and gold glows at the top. A shaft of gold light widens from it to the foot of the panel, and postcards drift up the light: three of them reading HOPE, BRAVERY and SUPPORT, and two written ones – one marked with a blue-and-gold heart, one with a stamp. Below them the words “Words Have Power”, and the line “Your messages transform into emotional armor for those on the front lines.”HOPEBRAVERYSUPPORTWords Have PowerYour messages transform into emotional armor forthose on the front lines.

Sample postcards

Real cards that went to the front – borrow freely.

A group of sample postcards written in English and Ukrainian
Hand-written cards decorated with sunflowers and hearts, one of them lettered “Canada stands with Ukraine”

Sample messages

Four openings you are welcome to copy or adapt.

Sample 1

GREETINGS from CANADA! Канада!

Sending you our support for your freedom, with the hope that you will return to your родина (family), your додому (home) and your життя (life) soon. We think of you often, and hope you stay well and safe.
We are proud of you! / Ми пишаємося вами!

Helen / Хелен

Sample 2

GREETINGS from CANADA!

Our country stays with Ukraine! / наша країна ЗА Україну!
May this vase of flowers brighten your day. May you have victory and freedom soon, so you can return to your family, friends, home and work.
With care, / З повагою,

Helen / Хелен

Sample 3

Dear Defender of Ukraine,

Shevchenko in exile in Kazakhstan was, like you, a defender of Ukraine and drew sunflowers – they don’t break!
You are heroes! Ви – герої!
Be strong and healthy,

Jean-Michel / Іван-Михайло

Sample 4

Dear Defender of Ukraine, / Шановний захиснику України!

We send you our hopes for victory and freedom soon. We support you in Canada.
With Love, / З любов’ю,

Helen / Хелен

Mail your cards

Where to send them once they are written, and what to tuck in alongside.

Into one envelope

Four or five written cards fit in one envelope with one regular domestic stamp. Mail to: Postcards to the Front, P. O. Box 184, Millbrook, ON  L0A 1G0  CANADA.

Tuck in a note to us

Your email address, clearly written, so we can tell you your cards arrived – and, if you like, how you learned about the project and why you wrote. We share those notes with the volunteers in Ukraine who carry the cards to the front.

See where cards land

Want to see a happy Defender holding a card? Have a look at “Is that you?”. All done? Subscribe – we’d like to keep in touch.

Four cards into one envelope, bound for UkraineA fan of four written postcards, the topmost one marked with a stamp – a yellow star inside a dashed gold square – with their lower edges disappearing into the mouth of an open envelope. The envelope is addressed to Postcards to the Front, P. O. Box 184, Millbrook, Ontario L0A 1G0, and carries a red maple leaf in the corner where a stamp would go; a dashed line arcs away from it to a Ukrainian flag.Postcards to the FrontP. O. Box 184Millbrook, ONL0A 1G0  CANADA
Where to find postcards →Ukrainian phrasebook →Printable phrase list →Run a workshop →All practical tools →